TILLY was about to tell of the North King when all of a sudden, Wixx appeared behind the ball of blue flame.

Then, without hesitation, her brother grabbed the ball and squeezed it as if it was a stress ball.

"You look tasty," Wixx said bluntly, then he licked his lower lip as if he was starving. "I wonder how a ball of flame and ice would taste like."

Oh, god.

Her children obviously shuddered at what their uncle said.

"M-Mom, does Uncle eat flames and spirits?" Winter asked in a shocked tone. "That sounds gross."

Julian just nodded in agreement.

On the other hand, Kiho stifled his laughter as if he found Wixx amusing.

She wasn't amused though.

"Brother, what do you think you're doing?" Tilly snarled at her brother. "This isn't the right time for games."

"I'm not playing around," Wixx said coldly without even turning to her. "This isn't a spirit. This is just a mere lump of Mana with a communication device inside. Once the caller on the other end of the line hang up on you, this will self-destruct. Judging by the amount of Mana infused in this device, I'm pretty sure that this is strong enough to blow up your mansion. Obviously, we'll survive from a petty attack like this. But I don't think we'd have the time to save your servants."

She was shocked to hear that.

Even Kiho went rigid and like her, he definitely didn't feel what Wixx had felt inside the ball of blue blame.

"As expected of the Red Phoenix," Garnet Nystrom, who fell silent as soon as Wixx appeared, finally broke his silence. "How did you know what is inside this ball? I thought I hid the communication device that also serves as a bomb well."

"I'm very sensitive," the Red Phoenix said. "I'm very sensitive when it comes to my precious little sister. So no matter how well you hide your ill-intention towards her, I will feel it. No one is allowed to have malice towards her, you hear me?"

Her face turned red from embarrassment. "Brother, stop it."

"Brother Julian, Brother Flint, Dad is glaring at Uncle Wixx," Winter "whispered" to Julian. "He's probably seething with jealousy."

Julian nodded in agreement. "Yes."

Flint, on the other hand, scoffed. "Brother Rival hasn't changed at all."

She just let out a frustrated sigh while shaking her head.

"I didn't intend to hurt the Supreme," the North King denied. "I know that she'd survive my puny attack. It was supposed to be a greeting for you, Lord Winchell. Had my plan succeeded, I would have turned the victims into my ice puppets and give them to you as a gift."

The Red Phoenix smirked. "Let me guess. You were supposed to claim that you attacked the mansion to spite me."

"You're a murderer!"

"And so are you," her brother snapped back. "Now, stop making me talk to a stupid lump of flame."

Then, without warning, Wixx swallowed and gulped the ball of blue flame without warning.

Wong and Kelsi could only shake their heads.

Crazy, Tilly thought to herself. My brother is crazy.

She was distracted when she heard a loud bang inside Wixx's stomach. Of course, she got worried. But when she saw that her brother didn't even blink, she realized that the explosion didn't hurt him in any way.

Well, he's not using a real human body…

The Red Phoenix went rigid for a while, and then, he burped a little too loudly. "It tastes bland," he said, then he turned to her. "Let's go, Tilly."

Tilly's brows furrowed in confusion. "Where?"

"To the North," Wixx said bluntly. "You declared a war to the North King, didn't you?"

***

LUNA ran as fast as she could despite the difficulty in doing so because of the snow-covered ground just to chase after Lord Prescott.

She had to. After all, she promised Tilly that she would bring back Lord Prescott's body to her. Even though the former duke had already turned into an "ice puppet," she knew that it was still her duty to bring him home to his daughter.

Tilly, I know that you'll be hurt to see your father in this state. But I also know that you'd rather let him rest in peace than to see him continue suffer as an ice puppet.

"Is that a new face I see?"

She was surprised when all of a sudden, she found herself unable to move. When she looked down at her legs, she saw several "snowballs" attached to them. Of course, they couldn't be ordinary snowballs because they suddenly felt heavy.

Heavy enough to literally pull her down until the snow-covered ground literally swallowed her up to her hips. She tried to get up but she couldn't move.

"I have been chasing the intruders of our land for the past five years," said the stranger who squatted in front of him. "But this is the first time that I saw a witch in their group."

She raised her head and got a little surprise at the face that greeted her.

Silver hair tied in a man bun, red eyes glowing menacingly, and skin as pale as the snow.

A Moonchester… ah, no. Kalel had those traits too so they must be Duke Nystrom's descendant.

"Pink eyes!" the stranger said in delight. "Wow. This is the first time I saw pink eyes," he said with a smirk, then he pinched her chin. "I like them. Can I have your eyes?"

She raised her hand and slapped the rude guy on the face.

But of course, she didn't use bare strength. She infused a spell to her hand to make it twenty times stronger than an average Mana user. But despite that, the rude Nystrom didn't receive any damage beside a lip cut.

Dammit!

She tried to summon more of her powers but nothing came out. And that was when she realized why the snowballs that were attached to her legs a while ago suddenly got heavy.

They absorbed my powers!

"Bitch," the stranger said while wiping off the blood from the corner of his mouth with his hand. Then, without blinking, he slapped her hard on the face. "How dare you hit the Prince of the North, huh?"

"Prince?" she asked, then she smirked despite the blood in her mouth. "I thought you were a barbarian."

He tried to slap her again but this time, his hand didn't even touch her face. Instead, he hit the barrier the she created around her body.

She wouldn't be an expert in defense if she couldn't protect herself in that situation. Although her powers were suddenly drained, she had enough stored energy to protect herself in case of an emergency like that.

"I like you," the "prince" said with a smile. "What's your name?"

She just spit on him and thankfully, it reached his knee.

He looked shocked by what she did, but he just laughed it off since he couldn't hurt her this time. "I'm Thaddeus Nystrom, the only son of King Garnet Nystrom." He opened his palm and instead of ice, he summoned a ball of blue flame this time. "I'm taking you to our castle as one of our spoils of war."

She smirked at his arrogance. "The "war" that you're talking about hasn't even started. I'll be taking your head later as a gift to the Supreme Fire Mage."

He paused, and then he laughed maniacally.

This time, he laughed long enough for her to realize that his laugh sounded familiar. How could she forget it? It was the same laugh that almost drove Tilly crazy five years ago!

He was the one who killed Lord Prescott!

"You're talking about my great grandmother, aren't you?" Thaddeus Nystrom asked. "I'd love to meet her. After all, I owe her an apology after I killed her poor father."

That confirmed her hunch.

"How dare you," she snarled at him. "How dare you kill Lord Prescott when you know that he was the Supreme's father!"

He shrugged casually. "I was just following orders," he reasoned. "But my father and I felt bad about it. And to make it up to the Supreme Fire Mage, we decided to turn Lord Maverick Prescott into an ice puppet. Shouldn't she be grateful to us for our generosity?"

She screamed in anger while summoning all the remaining strength in her body. I'll kill this little bitch!

Thaddeus, on the other hand, just smirked and raised his hand as if he was about to throw the ball of blue flame towards her direction. Obviously, he intended to break the barrier that she created. But all of a sudden, his whole right arm was engulfed in a red flame.

In just a span of a few seconds, his whole arm were burnt into ashes.

It all happened before the arrogant prince could even blink.

No wonder he screamed in shock when he realized what had happened to his arm. And probably, from agony.

"My arm, my arm!" Thaddeus cried like a child. "Father, heal my arm–"

The prince stopped whining when all of a sudden, he received a kick in the face that sent him flying until he hit a tree with ice leaves.

She couldn't care less about Thaddeus.

After all, her gaze was fixed on the tall red-headed man with flaming red wings standing in front of her right now.

The loud and erratic beat of her heart was enough for her to confirm who it was.

"Puny human puppet," Wixx whispered to himself in an annoyed tone, then he turned to her. The anger on his face was suddenly replaced with worry. "Are you okay, Luna?"

"No," Luna said honestly. "I didn't want you to see me in this pathetic state, Lord Wixx."

***

TILLY landed on the snow-covered land when she finally locked her gaze on the person that she was looking for as soon as she arrived at the North. She and Wixx arrived first because they used their wings to teleport. It was faster than using the portal.

Her heart broke as soon as she saw Lord Prescott, her father.

It was obvious that her father was nothing more than an ice puppet now. As he walked towards her while limping, there wasn't even an ounce of emotion on his rigid face. She could also tell that he couldn't recognize her.

"Father…" Tilly whispered to herself while walking towards her lifeless father. "Father, your daughter is back," she said, then she hugged her father despite of what he was now. "I'm so sorry it took me this long to find you."

Instead of a warm hug, she felt her father stab her with a dagger on her back.

She didn't feel the pain. And she didn't even try to detach herself from him despite the attack that she was receiving from his father. Instead, she just hugged him tighter.

"I'm so sorry, Father," she whispered in a cracked voice. "I'm so sorry this happened to you. I'm so sorry that I failed to bring you back home. I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to lay you next to Mother. I'm so sorry…"

His father still responded by continuously stabbing her in the back.

It hurt, but the fact that her father was reduced to a mindless ice puppet hurt even more. Before she knew it, she was already sobbing in his cold arms. It was the first time that she cried this hard after a long while.

"I've missed you, Father," she whispered to him. "Kiho does, too. Also, we are finally reunited. You have two grandchildren now, Father. I wish you could meet them when you were still alive."

Again, she just received another batch of stab in the back.

"Father, you're tired, aren't you?" Tilly asked between sobs. Then, she started to literally burn herself with the intention of burning her father's body. It hurt her to do this, but she had to. Even though his father couldn't feel any physical pain now, she still used the coldest flame that she could muster so it wouldn't hurt him. After all, she didn't want his father to suffer more than he already did. "Let me help you rest in peace now, Father."

She just hoped that Kiho, Winter, and Julian would arrive in time to say goodbye to her father…

***

NOTE: Hi! Would you like to read some extra/filler/light chapters for the upcoming Christmas as a breather (since the recent chapters were a little sad/dark)? I'd like to hear your thoughts because I don't want you to feel like you've wasted your coins/passes on filler chapters. Thank you. ^_^

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

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