54 A Thorn-Filled Road Ahead (1/2)

TILLY woke up in a hospital.

As soon as she remembered everything that happened, she immediately placed her hands on her tummy. She let her wrath take over and endanger Winter in the process. If something bad happened to her baby boy, she would never forgive herself.

”The baby is fine.”

Tilly turned to the owner of the voice and was disappointed to see Captain Denver instead of Kiho. But the news he said was a huge relief to her. ”Are you sure, Captain Denver?” She gently placed her hands on her tummy. ”Is my baby really safe?”

”Yes. The doctor who checked on you a while ago confirmed it,” Captain Denver said. ”You can ask her later if you have other questions.”

She nodded. ”Where's Kiho, Captain Denver? Is he still at the castle?”

”What do you think?” the captain asked. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. ”The replica of the Red Phoenix wrecked havoc at the castle. Of course, it's the captains' job to stop it.”

She gasped when she realized that. This was embarrassing to admit but she had been too consumed by anger a while ago that she almost forgot everything. ”Please tell me the phoenix didn't hurt my husband.”

”Your husband successfully sealed the replica,” he said. ”The captains received an order from His Majesty. Captain Sherwood left the castle with the emperor. Captain Ainsworth and I were supposed to take over while the emperor specifically asked us to make sure that Captain Kiho would take a rest.”

That made her worry. ”I-Is he injured?”

Captain Denver shook his head. ”Captain Kiho isn't injured. But apparently, his Mana depleted when he sealed the replica with his ice.”

Okay, that made her feel guilty. ”This is my fault. I let my anger take over. No matter how much I wanted to kill the bitch, I should have been more careful.”

”It can't be helped since you weren't taught how to control the phoenix,” the captain said. ”But you're amazing to actually control a mere replica even if it has a piece of your heart.”

She gave him a dubious look. ”Captain Denver, we have a lot of things we should talk about. You're a Fire Mage, right? And you know a lot about me.”

”We can talk later,” he said firmly. ”Lady Prescott, this is not the good time to talk about that yet. After the replica went berserk, an investigation will soon follow to trace whoever or whatever caused it to attack the princess.”

She swallowed in fear. ”A-Are they going to find out that it was me?”

”No,” he assured her confidently. ”I've manipulated the coachman's memory so he wouldn't remember that you were ambushed earlier.”

”You knew I was ambushed?”

”I had a feeling when I saw Captain Sherwood and I noticed that he didn't have his shadow,” he explained. ”One of the methods to seize the phoenix is to make your heart stop for a moment. I knew he'd target you so I rushed to find you. But I was still late.”

”Wait,” she said with a knotted forehead. ”Are you saying that you knew the people who are after my heart?”

”We know that Her Royal Highness wants your heart,” he confirmed. ”We're also aware that Captain Sherwood and Lahara are working for her. We're suspicious of the High Priest as well but we don't have evidence against him yet.”

She was shocked to hear that.

If Captain Denver and his people knew that she was being targeted, then where were they during her first life?

”I don't understand,” she said, shaking her now aching head. ”I feel like my head is about to explode.”

”Like I said, I'll tell you everything you want and need to know later,” he said. ”For now, we'll erase all the traces that will lead the attack to you. Don't worry, Lady Prescott. We will protect you.”

”Who are you with, Captain Denver?”

”The other Fire Mages, of course.”

She gasped aloud. ”You're not the only one…?”

He nodded seriously. ”A lot of us survived the purge, Lady Prescott.”

”How can you hide from the royal family all these years?”

”My family can seal a Fire Mage's Mana so it wouldn't get detected by any spell or device. Not even the mages of the White Tower can tell if a person is a Fire Mage or not once we have sealed their power,” he explained. ”We've been doing that for many years now. Unfortunately, we can't seal the special Mana that surrounds your heart. The only thing we could do for you was to force your heart to ”sleep.” So even though the princess found out that your heart is a heart of a Fire Mage, she didn't rip it out of you as soon as you were born.”