21 Endearmen (1/2)
THE sizzling moment between Tilly and Kiho was cut when her stupid stomach growled loudly. As soon as the captain heard that, he pulled away from the kiss and looked at her with a worried look on his handsome face.
She was relieved that Kiho didn't make her feel like she should be embarrassed by the sound her stomach made. Most men in this world think that ladies don't fart, after all.
”Let's eat first,” Kiho said.
”No,” Tilly said while shaking her head stubbornly. ”I want more kisses.”
He held her shoulders and moved his face away from his when she tried to kiss him again. ”I'm not sure if I can stop if we do something more than this.”
”I want you to do more.”
”I want to do more, too. But not at the expense of your health so we'll eat first,” he insisted. Then, he placed a hand on her cheek while gently brushing his thumb over her swollen lips. ”Don't push yourself, Tilly. You just recovered from your fever.”
Damn it.
She didn't expect that her little lie would result to this.
But she had to give up for now. She didn't want to look desperate in front of Kiho. Plus, this time, she wanted to conceive Winter with love.
”Okay, I understand,” she said. ”We should head to the castle then.”
”The emperor's castle in his island?”
”There's only castle in this island, my silly captain,” she said between giggles. But she understood why Kiho had to ask. ”His Majesty wanted you to rest first before you go back to the Royal Capital. And so, the emperor ordered us to spend the night in his castle. The servants there are expecting us.”
For some reason, his face suddenly went red. ”W-We're going to spend the night together? Does Duke Prescott know about this?”
She nodded while explaining. ”It was an order from His Majesty so my father had no choice but to give his consent.”
That was how loyal her father was to the royal family even though he was a noble.
Majority of the Royal Faction consisted of people related to the royal family. While the Noble Faction who wanted to destroy the monarchy were supported by higher nobles who had always hated the Moonchesters.
”Are you okay with that?” Kiho said, voice laced with concern. ”If you're not comfortable with that set-up, I'll send you home. I'll talk to His Majesty so don't be scared.”
”I want to spend the night with you, Kiho.”
He didn't smile but his eyes glowed in a beautiful golden light. Someone was happy, huh? ”Okay, let's go to the castle.”
She just smiled at him, then linked her arm with his as she gently pull him out of the room. ”How was your mission, Captain?”
”It was a success,” he answered. ”Tilly, how's your health?”
”I'm good,” she assured him. ”I just fainted because of high fever. But the royal doctor took care of me so I recovered fast.”
”Fainting is a serious matter, Tilly. Please don't make it sound like it's not a big deal by saying you ”just” fainted,” he lightly scolded her. But she let it slide because she knew he was just concerned about her. ”Let's be more careful next time, okay?”
She smiled and hugged his arm. ”Okay.”
”Oh,” he said as if he remembered something. ”Did Blake escort you here?”
”Of course,” she said. ”Kiho, please don't scold him too much for not being by my side when I fainted.” Kiho was a strict captain and he seemed to be protective of her in this life time. She had a feeling that he would scold Blake later so she wanted to appease him a little. She didn't want Blake to be punished like Damian for failing to protect her. ”Before I went to the palace, I sent Sir Blake on a mission.”
She told Kiho about the minor ”accident,” then her encounter with Flint (the young boy who spread rumors about the return of Fire Mages) and Sir Ainsworth. She also talked about how she suddenly felt ”feverish” when she arrived at the princess's residence. And that she couldn't just go home without greeting Princess Nia first so she had to ”hide” her sickness, probably resulting to her fainting.
She didn't want to lie to Kiho but she couldn't tell him that she didn't really get sick.
”Captain Ainsworth?” Kiho asked with a scowl. ”You shared a ride with the captain of the Golden Tiger Knights?”
She rolled her eyes discreetly.
[Oh, men.]
She talked about a lot of things but the only thing that seemed to stick to Kiho was the fact that she met Sir Ainsworth. Was he jealous? That was both cute and petty.
”The only reason I didn't reject Sir Ainsworth's offer was because I was running late from my scheduled meeting with Her Royal Highness,” Tilly explained. ”Do you not trust me?”
”I trust you,” he said almost immediately. ”I'm just worried. We had a dispute with Sir Belington, a knight from Captain Ainsworth's squad. He didn't bully you, did he?”
Ah, so he was worried about that.
”He didn't bully me,” she said. ”I'm relieved. I thought you were jealous.”
”Who said I wasn't?”
Her eyes widened in shock. She looked up at him to confirm if he was telling the truth. And yep, someone was really jealous. ”Oh.”
”Don't worry, I know that I have nothing to be jealous of Captain Ainsworth,” Kiho assured her. ”I guess it's just a normal reaction to feel a little jealous when the lady I like was alone with another man.”
She blinked in surprised. And giddiness. ”You like me?”
”Yes, I like you,” the captain confirmed, his cheeks tainted with a nice shade of pink. ”I thought I was being obvious.”
”Why do you like me?” she asked curiously. ”Is it because I have a crab mallet?”
”Hmm… I guess it's part of the reason,” Kiho said, then he put a hand on the top of her head. ”But Tilly, I won't get attracted to a woman just because of a crab mallet.”
Oh.
She wanted to ask what exactly made him like her but his stomach growled loudly this time. He blinked in surprise as if he just realized that he was hungry.
Then, she remembered that Emperor Aku told her that Kiho would definitely go straight to the Royal Capital without resting just to meet her. She just smiled politely at His Majesty, not really believing that the captain would do that. Now she owed the emperor an apology.
”Let's hurry,” Tilly said while walking faster, pulling Kiho along with her. ”What would you like for dinner, Captain?”
”You.”