"YOU DON'T know that Princess Nia is infertile because of the medicine that she has been taking to destroy her reproductive system?" Tilly asked Emperor Aku in a mocking tone. Right now, she was alone in the tea room while holding the communication device in her ear tight. She was glad that despite her nervousness, she still sounded convincing enough to rile the emperor. "I guess you're not even aware that you disgust your beloved princess, are you?"

Emperor Aku remained silent on the other line.

He must be fuming right now.

And the emperor's silence was giving her more confidence.

My plan is working.

She just needed a little more push.

"Your Majesty, I'll tell you a little secret of mine," she continued, her voice sounding more and more mocking as the minute passed by. "I was once reborn in a modern world much different than our own. And you know what? I learned an interesting term during my time there. Marrying a relative is called inc*st. And it's not only illegal– it's also frowned upon."

Again, she didn't hear a word from the emperor.

Strangely enough, despite His Majesty's silence, she could feel his anger despite being physicall far from him.

"Your incestuous relationship with your twin sister is seriously nasty," she said in a tone filled with disgusting. "You and Her Royal Highness are disgusting. If we were in the modern world, the baby that Princess Nia would have with you would definitely have birth defect. It's a sign that siblings– much more twins– aren't supposed to have a child together. Your "love" for the princess is insanity."

"Lady Nystrom," Emperor Aku called her in a threatening cold voice. "Stop."

Finally, a reaction.

She responded to that by laughing scornfully. "If I were Princess Nia, I'd do the same. No sane woman would want to have her twin brother's child, you fool."

"You don't have to provoke me, Lady Nystrom," the emperor said in a low tone that sounded like he was controlling his anger. "I will really kill you right after I'm done with His Holiness."

She wasn't gonna lie– that threat sent chills down her spine.

Still, she held our ground. This time, she didn't have to pretend to be confident. Remembering the fact that she once saved a child named Aku Moonchester was enough to make her angry– angry at herself for saving a monster back then.

"We've met before. Haven't we, Aku Moonchester?" she asked coldly, completely dropping the formalities.

"What part of your memory as Soleil Rosenberg have you retrieved so far?"

"The most regretting part, unfortunately," she deadpanned. "If I could turn back time, I wouldn't save your ungrateful ass back then, Aku Moonchester."

He laughed bitterly. "How do you feel now that the child you saved back then is your executioner this time?"

"Don't be too arrogant, Aku Moonchester," she told him with a scoff. "I will end your lineage soon. It wouldn't be too hard to accomplish that since Princess Nia is infertile anyway."

Being reminded of his beloved's infertility seemed to break him this time.

Aku Moonchester let out an angry and agonizing scream.

"Miss Luna," Tilly whispered to the witch. "Run."

***

TO SAY that Aku was mad would be an understatement.

Before he lost himself to his anger, he shut his eyes tight.

He wanted to destroy everything and everyone around him. But when he was just about to do so, he felt the burst of energy in the room. When he turned to the spot where he left the saint and the witch, they were already gone.

That was when he realized that Lady Nystrom's call was a distraction.

And I fell right into her trap.

Damn it.

He contemplated whether he would chase them or not. Still, the urge to confront Nia outweighed his need to kill the saint. He left the prayer room to go to his beloved's room. It was a quick trip since the princess was also in the temple, just in a different building.

When he appeared in Nia's chamber, he found her standing in the middle of the room as if she was already expecting him.

She must have felt his presence when he let out an angry burst of Mana a while ago.

"Aku," Nia greeted her with a somber look on her face. "What brings you here?"

"Is it true, Nia?" Aku asked with clenched fists. "Is it true that you took medicine to destroy your reproductive organs?"

She looked shocked by his accusation. "A-Aku…"

That was enough to confirm Lady Nystrom's revelation.

"So you're really infertile now?" he asked in disbelief. "How could you do this to me, Nia?"

She just averted her gaze away from him.

"Answer me, Nia!" he said angrily, then he marched towards her and grabbed her by the shoulders. He shook her petite body until she was forced to face him properly. "Why did you do that?! Why didn't you want to have a child with me?! Is that the reason why you kept on delaying our marriage?!"

"Yes!" Nia, who seemed like in pain because of how tight his grasp was, snapped at him. "I don't to marry you, Aku. I don't want your child either."

The shock and the pain that he felt was enough for him to loosen his grip on her shoulders. "Why?" he asked in a weak voice. "I thought you loved me, Nia…?"

"I did. But not anymore," she said without missing a beat. "I stopped loving you the moment we were born as twins in this lifetime, Aku."

Hearing that made him completely let go of her shoulders, then he took a step backwards.

Nia's eyes were clear, and her voice was indifferent. Gone was the sweet and gentle girl that he had loved in all lifetimes that he had with her. This was Nia's real feelings now– she really had stopped loving him when they were born as siblings.

"Is that why you want the heart?" he asked, still in shocked. "You want to summon the Red Phoenix and make it burn the string that connects our souls together?"

She looked surprise to find out that he knew why she wanted the heart. "If you my intention from the very start, then why did you keep quiet all this time?"

"Because I want to keep you by my side," he said. "I was hoping to change your mind without having this kind of conversation."

"It's too late for us now, Aku," Nia said with a sad smile on her face. "The Supreme's curse was for us to be reborn as siblings again and again. You made her and the Black Serpent hate each other until they became star-crossed lovers. So as retaliation, she bound our souls in an awful way."

He shut his eyes when he heard that. "I'll kill her this time," he promised her. "I'll kill her and free us from her curse."

"Aku, let's just stop."

He opened his eyes and glared at her. "No. I will never let you escape from me, Nia. We will still get married in this lifetime."

Nia let out a frustrated sigh, then she averted her gaze away from him. "An infertile princess can't be the empress, Aku," she reminded him. "You can't lose the throne, can you?"

"We will fix that body of yours," Aku said firmly, then he turned his back on her while exiting the room. He tapped the bracelet's tattoo around his wrist. Aside from being a "controller," it also served as a communication device connected to the Blue Dragon and the Golden Tiger. "Elis, Ainsworth, find and capture the witch with pink eyes alive."

***

"SENTINEL, you didn't answer my question before," Tilly said while she leaned against the windowsill. After her call with Emperor Aku, she summoned the spirit guardian in the tea room. "Can I wake up as the Supreme without losing myself?"

She had to repeat that question because when she tried to ask that to Sentinel before, they were interrupted by Kiho's arrival.

"I cannot answer that, my lady," Sentinel said. "After all, you've never awoken ever since you fell into a deep slumber many years ago. The heart of the Red Phoenix had been transferred several times to keep the flame of the Fire Mages alive. But this is the first time that you've been reincarnated in this world."

She nodded because that made sense. "Then, if I haven't awoken yet, why are you so certain that I will kill the Black Serpent once I retrieved my memories?"

He looked taken aback by her question. "I'm not sure, my lady," he admitted. "I'm only following Lord Wixx's order. He told every Fire Mage in the past to never let you and the Black Serpent awaken at the same time."

"Why does it seem that everyone has a say in my relationship with the Black Serpent?" she said while shaking her head. "Anyway, I have more questions."

"What is it, Lady Nystrom?"

"Between me and Kiho, who'd be more dangerous when awakened?"

"The Black Serpent, of course," the spirit guardian said without missing a beat. "He's dangerous when he awakens because he's not on our side."

Hearing that was painful but she set aside her personal feelings for now.

"Between me and Kiho, who has the higher chance of killing His Majesty?"

"It's you, my lady," he said without hesitation. "In terms of strength, the Black Serpent might be a little stronger than you. But I don't think he can kill the emperor because of their bond."

Ouch.

"So between you and the Black Serpent, only you can kill the emperor, my lady," he continued.

"Between me and Kiho, who's more in danger when awakened?"

"I think it's the Black Serpent," he said, obviously confused by her questions now. "Once the Black Serpent awakens, His Majesty will do anything to get him to return to his side even if it's against his will. We'll also be in danger if that happens, my lady. I'm not underestimating you but you can't fight the emperor and the Black Serpent at the same time."

She let out a deep sigh before she spoke again. "It's settled then."

Sentinel blinked in surprise. "What do you mean by that, Lady Nystrom?"

"I'm the one who's going to awaken to kill Emperor Aku," Tilly said in a soft voice, her heart hurting so bad because of the decision she made. But she had to be strong for her family. After all, she promised that she was going to be the one to protect them this time. "Kiho and Winter shall go ahead without me."

***

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