"KIHO, those snowdrops are beautiful."

Kiho nodded. He was happy and proud that Tilly noticed the little ice snowdrop flowers that "bloomed" when the ice puppets melted because of his wife's flame. "We didn't have the chance to say goodbye to them. I thought giving them your favorite flower would be a good way to send them off, and to pay them our last respects," he explained, then he turned to her. "Tilly, you whispered a prayer before you sent your feathers to each one of them, didn't you?"

Tilly turned to him with a surprised look on her face. "Oh, you noticed?"

"Yes," he said. "What did you pray for?"

"For each one of them to be reincarnated in a world where they can live in peace," she said. "I want them to be happy in their next life."

He smiled and gently ruffled her hair. "Good girl."

She groaned playfully. "Don't smile at me like that, Kiho."

He bit his lower lip, then he got serious. "Okay."

She laughed softly.

He could really be so naïve sometimes.

But damn, even if Kiho wasn't smiling, he was still so hot.

She was very aware that it wasn't the right time to lust after her husband. But she couldn't help it, okay? She just missed having intimate moments with Kiho.

Yes, I'm horny.

"I think I understand now why you don't want me to smile," Kiho said gently, then he touched her face and ran his thumb over her lower lip. "When you look at me like that, I feel my body burn for you, Tilly."

She nodded in agreement.

But instead of verbally responding to him, she just opened her mouth a little and licked the tip of his thumb.

We shouldn't be doing this but…

Kiho gently pushed his thumb inside her mouth a little bit more.

This time, she sucked his thumb. She could clearly see that her husband was starting to get turned on. Ah, if he only knew how sucking his finger was making her feel. She wouldn't lie– she wished she was sucking something else.

I want to kneel and just suck him off.

Kiho's face turned red, and his breath started to become shallow.

She knew that looked very well. It meant that the "beast" in him was awakening. To be honest, she was amazed by her husband's display of self-control at the moment. She was pretty sure that if they were in an isolated place, he would have already picked her up, (gently) threw her on any flat surface, ripped her clothes off, and devoured her the way she wanted him to.

If we keep this up, we might have baby #3 soon.

But they had to hold back since it wasn't safe for her to be pregnant for now.

Regretfully, she had to grab his wrist and pull his hand away from her face.

I already miss his finger in my mouth.

"Thank you for the snack, hon," she said while licking her lips. "It was delicious."

"Tilly," Kiho groaned lowly, then he hugged her tight and buried his face against her neck. "Tilly…"

Something hard was poking her hip.

Someone is horny, huh?

"I want to do more," Kiho whispered in a hoarse, desperate voice. He hugged her tighter and as he did, he also slightly grind his erection against her hip. It felt so good. "I'm dying to be inside you again."

She blushed because his words were a little vulgar.

Kiho rarely talked dirty to her but everytime he did, she would be reduced to a puddle of mess. Gosh, she needed to be strong because if she gave in now, they wouldn't be able to stop.

Tilly gently patted Kiho's back. "Take a cold shower first, hon."

***

"I DON'T care if you come out of Nia Moonchester's body. It's your choice to do so," Julian said to Lucina Morganna. "But don't get near me again. I don't want my mother to get upset."

"But I've been good to you," Lucina Morganna said desperately. "Are you going to throw me away just because you're real family has finally accepted you?"

He wouldn't lie– he still pitied Lucina Morganna.

But like he promised himself before, that would never be a reason to betray his family. He was now a son and an older brother to good people.

"Julian, don't do this to me," Lucina Morganna begged, then she hugged him and suddenly carried her in her arms. "Let's run away."

"Hey!" Lady Solenn yelled. "Put my man down!"

He heard her claim (and didn't hate it) but he chose to not comment and focus on his would-be kidnapper instead.

I'm sorry, Lady Solenn.

When Lucina Morganna tried to run, he made his body burn until it was too hot even for a Fire Mage to handle. As expected, the woman was forced to drop him.

He landed on his feet and immediately went into a defense position because he noticed that Lucina Morganna's Mana started to increase. The look on her face also told him that she would use force this time. She even summoned the Black Flame in her hands.

"Stop making troubles for Nia."

To say that he was surprised when Aku Moonchester suddenly appeared behind Lucina Morganna would be an understatement.

We didn't feel his presence until he spoke.

Before anyone of them could react, his "stepmother" already disappeared in a thick black smoke when the emperor touched the top of her head.

"Did she come out again?" Nia Moonchester, who just woke up, asked when she got up. It seemed like the princess was having a headache because she was clutching at her head pretty tight. "That wench…"

"I punished her for you," Aku Moonchester said, then he sat beside the royal princess. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Then, he pulled her closer to him and gently made her lay her head against his chest. "Does your head hurt?"

It was a disgusting sight.

First, Aku and Nia Moonchesters were twins. Second, he couldn't stomach the fact that the emperor could only be geuninely concern about one person.

"Children, will you kindly give us some privacy?" Aku Moonchester asked with a smile. "See you at the family dinner later."

Julian nodded politely. "Excuse us."

Lady Solenn, who didn't have any intention to show good manners to the enemies, just grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room.

He just followed the young princess quietly.

"This is weird, isn't it?" Lady Solenn asked with a scowl while they were walking in the hallway. "Our main enemies are here but we can't touch them."

"It can't be helped since it's not our priority to kill them," he explained. "If we kill them now, the name of the Fire Mages will never be cleared and we'll make enemies out of the empire's citizens. Mother and Father want to expose the crimes of the Moonchesters, clear our clan's name, and remove the Moonchesters from their position. It is all to avoid a war that may involve innocent people."

"Noblesse oblige, isn't it?" she asked in frustration. "The noblesse oblige says we should protect the weak and regulate the strong." She turned to him with a scowl. "This is why I don't want to be a decent person. I just want to punch anyone and anything that annoys me in the face."

"You can't do that," he gently scolded her. "You're a princess, Lady Solenn. You have the obligation to lead the people with kindness."

"I've done that countless times already," she complained. "In this lifetime, I just want to be a lazy princess. Or a pretty wife of a rich, handsome, and kind man." She stopped walking and faced him without letting go of his hand. "Take care of me, okay?"

He could only laugh awkwardly at her straightforwardness.

"Hey, stop making my brother feel uncomfortable."

He turned to see his younger brother walking towards him. For some reason, he felt relieved to see Winter.

"I'm not making Julian uncomfortable," Lady Solenn said, then he turned to him with puppy dog eyes. "Am I?"

"No, of course not," he denied. "I just don't know how to react since this is the first time a lady paid this much attention to me."

The young princess looked surprised by that.

It was true that he was married in the past. But he and his wife in his previous life just married each other out of obligation. It was a loveless marriage.

"Just ignore her, Brother," Winter said, then he lightly hit Lady Solenn's hand to make her lose her grip on his hand. "How long are you going to hold my brother's hand, Solenn?"

"Tsk," Lady Solenn complained. "What are you doing here? I thought you were with Miss Luna."

"I was," Winter said. "But Miss Luna insisted to guard Nia Moonchester's room. I was worried so I went to check on her. But then, I saw Aku Moonchester and Uncle Wixx have a little fight."

"Fight?" he and Lady Solenn asked at the same time.

"Uncle Wixx won because he was able to hit Aku Moonchester once," Winter said. "I left after that and went to my room. When I got bored, I went out to go and grab some hot chocolate. And that was when I saw it." He looked around to make sure that nobody was eavesdropping on them. Then, he pulled them closer to him before he whispered. "I saw Uncle Wixx bring Miss Luna to his room."

Lady Solenn let out a soft gasp. "Scandalous."

Julian couldn't help but laugh softly at Lady Solenn's reaction. Cute.

***

"NIA, are you feeling better now?"

"I need tea," Nia said, then she let out a sigh. The room had a "But our hosts are adamant about making us make our own drinks."

Aku laughed softly. It was obvious that her brother didn't mind being treated this way by their hosts. After all, despite everything, he was still fond of Kiho. "I'll go and make some tea for you. I used to make tea for Kiho in the past so rest assured, the tea I make will suit your taste."

She shook her head. "No, you don't have to do that. I can wait until dinner. They will serve us tea after then, won't they?"

"I think they're not that rude not to serve us tea after dinner."

She just nodded, then she looked at her brother who didn't seem to be leaving her room anytime soon. "Do you need something from me, Aku?"

"Yes," he said bluntly. "You brought your collection with you, didn't you?"

"Why are you asking me about my collection?" she asked defensively. "Aku, you promised me before that you won't touch them."

"I'm just going to borrow one of them, Nia."

She wanted to say 'no' but when her brother's red eyes glowed, she bit her lower lip.

Damn, Aku has completely recovered by now.

Aku had been weak for the past years because he gave more than half of his Mana to Yumi when the White Snake created the poison that made the Supreme and the Black Serpent forget their memories. It took him this long to recover his lost Mana.

But now, her brother wouldn't be easily touched by Duke and Duchess Nystrom now.

Though I believe that Aku is acting weak around the enemies to catch them off-guard.

"Nia, I need your winged-guardian," he said seriously. "Let me borrow that one."

She was confused.

The winged-guardian in her collection was the weakest one. The only good quality that it had for her to keep it in her collection was its ability to fly.

To fly?

Well, her brother did specify that he needed her winged-guardian.

"That's fine with me," Nia said. She was willing to give up that one since she wouldn't need it. Not for now. "But Aku, what do you need it for? You have Elis Ripperton. He's the Blue Dragon and he can fly better than my winged-guardian."

"I need Elis Ripperton to stay in the Royal Capital for now."

Ah, so he didn't have any intention to tell her about his plan.

It seemed like Aku was being careful around her. But come to think of it, both of them had never truly been "allies." He planned things behind her back, and she schemed things when he wasn't looking. After all, even if they were supposed to be partners, they still had the same goal for different reasons.

Well, that was the case in the past.

I don't need to crush the heart anymore since I already made a deal with Lady Nystrom.

"Alright, I understand," Nia said. If she probed more questions, Aku might suspect her. She must not let him know that she made another binding vow with Lady Nystrom. "Let me know when you need it."

"I will," Aku said, then he kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you for lending me your winged-guardian, my love."

Eww.

***

ROARKE smiled gently when he saw Lady Solenn, Lord Julian, and Lord Winter come out of the kitchen. Each of them was holding a mug of hot chocolate. For some reason, he saw the children as cute little ducks.

Ah, scratch that.

It actually looked like Lord Julian was a mother duck while Lady Solenn and Lord Winter were ducklings following their mother.

"Good work today, Roarke," Lord Julian greeted him as he walked past him.

"Good work," Lord Winter added. "And congratulations."

"Huh?"

"Congratulations for having a new sibling, Roarke," Lady Solenn added cheerfully. "I hope it's a girl!"

He heard Lord Julian scold Lady Solenn and Lord Winter as the three children walked up the stairs.

But he was already frozen on his spot.

Roarke gulped hard. "Is Lady Luna p-pregnant with Lord Wixx's child?"

His thoughts were cut-off when he heard a crashing noise.

When he turned around, he saw a pale Lord Denver who obviously heard what he just said. He also noticed the broken pieces of a mug on the floor. It seemed like Lord Denver dropped the mug in shock.

"Roarke, did I hear it right?" Lord Denver asked, then he gulped. "M-Miss Luna is p-pregnant?"

***

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

***

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