"LADY Nystrom, the young lord is so adorable!"

Tilly smiled proudly. "I know, right?" she agreed with Isabelle. "My son is blessed with oozing charm."

"He's cute but…" Flint trailed-off while looking at Winter with wide eyes. Then, he turned to her with a horrified look on his face. "Baby Winter looks so much like your husband, Big Sister."

She laughed at Flint's comment. "And that's supposed to be a good thing, Flint."

Right now, they were in the playroom.

Winter and Julian were in the crib while Isabelle and Flint were gushing about her son. On the other hand, she was having tea in the tea table place beside the window.

I'm so glad Isabelle and Flint arrived safely.

"My lady, can I carry the young lord?" Isabelle asked with huge, sparkling eyes. "I promise to be really careful."

"Of course," she said with a smile. "I trust you, Isabelle."

The young maid smiled and bowed to her. Then, she carefully and gently put Winter in her arms. Thankfully, Winter didn't cry. "My lord, my name is Isabelle," she said gently. "I swear to protect you my life."

As a response, Winter smiled and touched Isabelle's face.

She was relieved to know that her son felt safe and comfortable with Isabelle.

It's a good idea that I brought Isabelle here.

Before she did, she talked to Louisa, Leni, and Lani first. The three were the closest maids to her and she didn't want them to think that she didn't trust them enough. She explained that she already promised Isabelle the position of being Winter's nanny. Thankfully, they understood.

And it wasn't like the mansion's maids wouldn't be allowed to touch Winter anymore.

"Big Sister?"

Her thoughts were cut-off when Flint joined her table. Aside from tea, there were also snacks on the table that would suit a child's taste.

"How are you, Flint?" she asked while pouring tea in the child's cup. "I'm sorry if we weren't able to visit you in the tower when you woke up."

"It's okay, Big Sister. I understand that you were pregnant then and it would have been dangerous for you if you went out carelessly," Flint said with a smile, then he turned serious. "Big Sister, thank you for adopting me and Julian to keep us safe. I know that it's not easy to share your name with commoners like us. But you still did and I'm grateful. I never dreamt of a luxurious life. I just want my brother to be safe and comfortable."

She smiled at how selfless Flint was. "Spoken like a true older brother…"

""Brother?""

She trailed-off when she realized an important matter from her memories as the Supreme that she recently retrieved.

The Red Phoenix is my older brother?!

Gosh, she called him "fossil!"

"Big Sister?"

She smiled so Flint wouldn't worry too much. "We're very happy that you and Julian are now a part of our family, Flint," she assured him. "Kiho and I will do our best to provide you a safe and happy life with us."

Flint gave her a big smile. "Thank you, Big Sister."

"Make sure to thank Kiho, too," she gently told him. "After all, he's the one who accepted you and Julian as his brothers."

The child blushed.

She laughed at his reaction.

Their moment was disrupted when they heard a knock on the door. Then, much to her surprise, Kiho entered the room.

"Hon. Welcome home," she said, then she stood up to walk towards her husband. "Why didn't Dave inform me that you've arrived?"

Usually, when Kiho entered their estate, David would be informed by the knights guarding the main gate. Then, the head butler would inform her of her husband's arrival. That was a practice that every noble household in the empire followed. After all, it was customary for a wife to welcome her husband along with the servants.

"Please don't scold Dave and the knights," Kiho said, then he kissed her on the forehead. "I asked them to not announce my arrival." He cupped her face between his hands. "I don't want you to go all the way to the mansion's lobby just to welcome me. I just want you to stay with Winter comfortable in the room."

She pouted. "But I want you to welcome you."

"You can do that once you're fully-recovered, honey" he told her while tucking her hair behind her ear. "How's your day?"

"I'm happy because Isabelle and Flint are here now," she said with a smile. "How about you, hon?"

"I'm happy to come home safely because of you and the little rascal," he said in a gentle voice. "And I have good news. His Majesty already gave his permission for us to leave the Royal Capital. According to him, he will just summon us once the noble trial begins."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for your hard work, hon."

"No, thank you," he said, then he leaned down to her ear and whispered. "Your brain is as sexy as you, honey."

She giggled at that.

He was about to kiss her but she covered his mouth with her hands.

It wasn't like she didn't want to kiss him. She just didn't want to "traumatize" the people with them.

Instead, she just held Kiho's hand and pulled him to Flint.

Flint instantly stood up and bowed to Kiho. "Welcome back, Your Grace."

Kiho raised a brow at Flint. Then, when the child raised his head, her husband flicked Flint's forehead. "Why are you addressing your big brother like that?"

She almost cried at that moment.

Flint's face turned red from embarrassment, but the child looked just as touched as she was. "I won't call you 'Big Brother,'" he declared. "I will call you 'Brother Rival' instead."

She laughed, relieved and amused at Flint's declaration.

"I like the sound of it," Kiho said, then he ruffled Flint's hair. "Welcome to our family, my little brother."

The child's face turned redder but his eyes were sparkling with joy. "Hmp!"

Her husband just smirked at that, then he turned to Winter.

Isabelle, who carried Winter in her arms, bowed politely. "Welcome home, Duke Nystrom."

"Thank you, Isabelle," Kiho said. "Welcome to House Nystrom. We entrust our little Winter to you from now on."

"I will take care of the young lord with the utmost care, my lord," Isabelle promised.

Kiho just nodded. Then, he opened his arms while looking at Winter. Isabelle immediately understood and carefully put the little cinnamon roll in Kiho's arms.

"Hello, our little rascal," Kiho greeted their son while rocking him in his arms. "Are you being good to your uncles?"

Winter giggled as a response.

"Aww, our baby is so cute," Tilly gushed, then she kissed Winter's cheek. "Our little cinnamon roll is really a good boy."

***

A rival, Winter thought to himself. Uncle Flint is a rival.

Uncle Flint was in his 'okay-list.' But when he saw how close his father was to Uncle Flint, he kind of felt jealous.

So right now, he was acting cute to solidify his position in his father's heart.

Call me selfish but I want my mommy and daddy's undivided love, Winter said to himself. I've waited for so long for our family to be complete.

***

"F*CK YOU, you useless Sky God!" Jameson screamed at the top of his lungs while looking up at the sky. "Stop messing with us!"

It had been a week since he and Roarke f*cking Sinclair literally fell from the sky.

When they descended, something had messed up with his Mana�� making them fall earlier than expected. They found themselves in a forest at the farthest border of the empire from the Royal Capital. And until know, they couldn't find their way out.

He was 100% certain that the Sky God was the one who dropped them from the sky and locked them up in that forest.

"Yelling dumb things only makes you look dumber, Crawford," Roarke deadpanned while looking at him as if he just judged his whole life. "It's not like the Sky God would let us out if you screamed at him."

He glared at the lazy cat-eyed dude. "Alright, f*cking genius," he said sarcastically. "What should we f*cking do then? The Sky God is f*cking messing with my Mana."

One of his abilities was to trace the Supreme even if her power was sealed.

But right now, because of the many things messing with his "reception," he couldn't even find their way out of the forest.

"And do I have to f*cking remind you that you're directionally-challenged?" he continued. "God, why did they f*cking send us together in this mission?"

"Let's burn down the forest."

He almost chocked at Roarke's "suggestion." "The f*ck are you on?"

"Under the Sky God's order, the spirits in the forest are messing up with your Mana," Roarke deadpanned. "The Supreme taught us to respect and cherish the lives of other beings, and so we tried to ignore their blatant attack on us for the past week. But we can't stay here forever. My patience is running out."

Well, this was one of the few times that he could actually agree with the lazy cat.

"If I stay one more week with you, I'm going to either die or kill you," Roarke continued with a blank look on his face. "I am so tired of you and your loud voice, Crawford."

He shut his eyes tight to calm himself.

Supreme, you were wrong– I will never get along with Roarke f*cking Sinclair.

"Let's f*cking burn down the forest," Jameson agreed, then he opened his eyes to glare at Roarke. "Let's just kill everything in this forest before we go after each other's throat."

***

"WELCOME to my humble abode, Your Majesty."

Aku smiled when he found Forrester alone in the prayer room dedicated to the Sky God.

The shrine of the Sky God was separated from the temple. Also, the High Priest and the Holy Knights weren't allowed to step foot in there. That meant no one could interrupt them.

"Your eyes tell me that you already know why I'm here, Your Holiness," Aku said with a smile, his body being engulfed in a mix of silver and gold light. "Did your father know that I'm coming for your life?"

Forrester let out a frustrated sigh. "Let's keep this short, Your Majesty, he said, then giant vines started to sprout from the floor. "I don't want to waste too much energy on a fake like you."

***

NOTE: Hi. Have you seen the "new" cover? It's the same image but the texts are different. I'm thinking about changing the story's title from MOMMY VILLAINESS to MOMMY VILLAINESS: THE LADY WITH THE CRAB MALLET.

I already talked to my editor and she said I can still change the book title.

What do you think? I have considered 'The Beast Priestess' and 'The Heart of the Red Phoenix,' but I thought the crab mallet thingy fits the story more. And I think it's kind of unique? I think most of us have a soft spot for Tilly's crab mallet. Hehe!

I don't want to get rid of the 'Mommy Villainess' since I think it's what captured the attention of some of you. Also, Tilly as a "mommy villainess" will be relevant again in the upcoming arc.

Anyway, I didn't expect that the story will turn out this way. When I started writing Mommy Villainess, I just wanted a heroine with a past as a "villainess" that will eventually become the best mommy ever. And thus, the simple title. Joke's on me, the story suddenly became complex. Haha! :D

Anyway, please comment down and let me know what you think. Thank you~

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PS: You may send gifts if you can. Thank you~

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[NOTE: Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY so you can be notified when I post an update. Thank you! :>]