22 Surely This Time (1/2)
”DO you not want to sleep in the same room as me?” Tilly asked Kiho. ”If you're not comfortable, I can ask the maids to find me another room to use.”
”No, I want to stay with you here,” Kiho said, his cheeks turning pink. ”It's me who's worried that you might not be comfortable with this.”
”Oh,” she said, then she sat on the bed. The mattress wasn't as soft as what she had back at home but it was comfortable enough. ”I'm fine with this. We haven't seen each other for a few days so I'm glad that the emperor arranged this room for us.”
He looked at her as if he was trying to read her mind. But in the end, it seemed like he gave up. ”You're always calm and composed. I like that about you.”
”It's because my mental age is old,” she said playfully. ”You're technically allowed to call me ”grandmother,” you know.”
”No, you're not my grandma,” he said straightforwardly. ”You're my baby.”
She instantly regretted bragging about her ��mental age.” Because right now, she wanted to squeal like a teenager (that she was in this world). Kiho could really make her feel things that she didn't feel in the past.
[Wait, I don't really remember my moments with Kiho and Winter.]
The memories that clung to her ever since she woke up in that world again were the memories of her sins. How did she treat her husband and son before she fell into madness because of her greed for power?
[And I can't really remember why I was so thirsty for power back then.]
If her doubts about Princess Nia were correct, could it be possible that she was controlled by someone else in the past?
[I was young and gullible then so it was highly possible.”
”Tilly?” Kiho asked in a worried tone. ”Are you okay?”
”Kiho, can I ask you stuff about the royal family?”
”It depends on what you want to know,” he said cautiously. ”There are things that I can't say even to you.”
”I understand that,” she said. Then, she crawled to the bed, sat on the mattress with a pillow on her back, then leaned against the headboard. After that, she patted the space next to her. ”Come here, baby. Let's talk.”
He seemed pleased by that. ”Okay, baby.”
A few moments later, Kiho was already sitting beside her. There was also a pillow on his back. And they were sharing the blanket.
”Kiho, have you served Her Royal Highness as a guard before?” she asked curiously. ”You used to work in the royal palace, didn't you?”
”Yes,” he said. ”But I worked for His Majesty, not for Her Royal Highness. The knight that was assigned to the princess until last year was Captain Sherwood of the Blue Dragon Knights.”
”Huh?” she asked in confusion. In her past life, she didn't care about other people so she couldn't remember who the princess's personal knight was. Gosh, why were the only things clear in her memories were her evil schemes in the past? ”Oh, right. This morning, I saw the emperor with Captain Sherwood. Did the princess change her personal knight?”
”I'll tell you because it's an open secret in the palace anyway,” he said with a mild hesitation. ”His Majesty wasn't too happy to see that Her Royal Highness and Captain Sherwood had developed a close relationship. Before the emperor officially proposed to the princess, he ”promoted” Captain Sherwood as his personal knight.”
”What happened to Sir Gregory, the emperor's knight ever since he was a crown prince?”
”He retired.”
”Did the emperor ask him to retire?”
”I don't know.”
[His Majesty definitely did.]
Everyone in the empire knew that their great emperor was crazily in love with Princess Nia.
”So, who is now the princess's knight?” she asked. ”I didn't see anyone else with her aside from Catalina.”
His forehead knotted in confusion. ”Oh, you didn't know? I thought you'd know because according to the emperor, you're good friends with the princess.”
She fell silent.
[Why can't I remember the stuff about Princess Nia when we were supposed to be ”good friends” in my past life?]
”I apologize,” Kiho said. ”Just because you're good friends doesn't mean you should know everything about the princess.”
She just smiled at him. ”It's okay, Kiho.”
”The princess's new ”knight” is actually one of the Great Mages of the White Tower,” the captain said. ”She's called Lahara.”
She gasped in surprise. ”Isn't Lahara the rumored ”immortal beauty” who was a strong candidate to be the next Grand Mage?” Her forehead knotted in confusion. ”Wait. Are mages even allowed to be a knight?”
”Miss Lahara quit her position in the White Tower,” he said. ”Apparently, she took her training with the Blue Dragon Knights. Because of her strong ability as a mage, she easily graduated from being a squire. And as soon as Lahara became a full-fledged knight, Emperor Aku appointed her as Princess Nia's new personal knight. It all happened last year.”
[Just last year?]
She couldn't remember most of the things that happened in her past life before she married Kiho. Why did it feel like the only memories that remained in her mind were the ones she had after giving birth to Winter?
[There are several gaps in my memory. I remember my childhood. But the things that took place since I met Kiho were blurry.]
She tried hard to remember her 'missing' memories but all she got was a sharp pain in the head.
”Aww…” she groaned while holding her head.
”Tilly, what's wrong?” Kiho asked in a worried tone. ”Headache?”
She nodded. ”My head suddenly hurts…”
”Wait here,” he said. ”I'll call a doctor.”
”No,” she whined. Then, she gently pushed Kiho until he was lying on the bed. After that, she laid beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She also used his solid chest as a pillow. ”Is this okay, Kiho?”
”Yes,” he said right away. ”I like this position.”
She smiled at his honesty.