76 Sacred Invitation (1/2)

TILLY ACCIDENTALLY dropped the cup that she was about to place on the table, making her gasp in the process. She was so surprised that her heartbeat suddenly went erratic. But to be honest, she had been feeling that way since a while ago.

Is it mine or Winter's heart though?

Anyway, she wasn't looking when she put the cup down and thought that she had properly placed it on the table. She didn't pay attention to it because she was checking the blueprint of her new store at Komodo. The architect just sent it to her and she was very eager to check it.

The opening of her new store had also been delayed because of what she went through recently. But she didn't want to delay it further.

And because of her haste, this was what happened: the tea cup ended up in broken pieces.

What a shame… I'm fond of that tea cup.

”Your Grace, is everything alright there?” Louisa, the head maid, asked from outside the room. Along with Leni and Lani, the three served as her ladies-in-waiting. ”We heard a crashing sound.”

”I dropped the tea cup,” Tilly said. ”Please clean it up.”

”Give us a moment, Your Grace.”

Now that she had calmed down, she realized that she had started to get used to be called ”Your Grace.” After all, the emperor had already signed Kiho's registration as a duke. That made her a duchess as well, of course.

But even though her father already passed his duke title to Kiho, it wasn't like he was no longer a higher noble. Her father had other titles aside from being a duke. To other territories, he was a marquis.

Father is that rich.

And he would still be rich even if he gave Oakes to Kiho.

Speaking of Kiho…

Her husband left home after lunch to check his squad and to buy the ingredients for their dinner later. But it had already been hours since then.

What's taking you long, hon?

Her thoughts were cut-off when she heard a knock on the door.

A few moments later, the maids entered her office with cleaning tools with them. They were cleaning up the broken pieces of the cup when David, the head butler, came to deliver a letter for her.

”Your Grace, a letter from the High Priest's temple had arrived,” David informed her while holding a tray where the letter was placed carefully. ”The letter has His Eminence's seal.”

She suddenly got nervous even though she already knew what the letter was about.

It's definitely about the date of when I need to serve the temple as the Beast Priestess.

Gosh, why wouldn't her heart stop beating like crazy?

Tilly clutched her chest tight. For some reason, her heart had been palpitating non-stop even though she didn't have caffeine. She didn't want to admit this but she was feeling ominous right now. Please come home ASAP, Kiho.

***

UNPLEASANT.

That was the feeling Kiho had when his gaze met with the woman with the brown hair. His heart was thumping so hard against his ribcage because of the sudden rise of anger in his chest. He didn't understand why he felt that way.

When she noticed that the woman was about to talk to him, he immediately turned his back on her and walked away quietly.

Why do I feel pissed?

While he was on his way out, a young knight bumped into him. The knight just bowed to him as an apology before walking past him.

”I've been looking for you everywhere, Miss Morganna!”

That was the last thing Kiho heard before he got out of the restaurant.

”You're acting strange, Your Grace,” Blake, who was walking behind him, said. ”It's rare for you to be rude to a woman you just met.”

”I got an unpleasant feeling from her,” Kiho admitted. ”I don't know why though. For some reason, every fiber of my being screamed at me to walk away.” Her turned to the vice-captain. ”Am I making sense?”

”To be honest, I don't understand what you're saying, Your Grace,” the vice-captain answered honestly. ”I didn't feel any threat from the lady. She didn't give me an unpleasant feeling. In fact, she was nice to look at because she was beautiful.”

Kiho didn't comment on that because first, he didn't care about other women.

Second, he didn't really notice the brown-haired woman's face. What caught his attention was her hair and nothing else.

Finally, Tilly was the most beautiful woman in his eyes.

Always and forever.

”But I trust your sense and instinct, Your Grace. You were never wrong when it comes to judging people,” Blake continued. ”If you felt something off with the woman at the restaurant, then there must really be something wrong with her.”

Kiho nodded in agreement. ”I hope to never cross paths with her again.”

***

KIHO hurried over to Tilly as soon as he heard from David that his wife called a doctor to check on her.

When he got to their chamber, he saw his wife sitting on the bed while leaning against the headboard. Her maids were standing by her side. In front of her, the doctor was already packing up his things.

”Welcome back, Your Grace,” the maids greeted him when they saw him enter the room.