77 Fragile Bonds, Tangible Connections (1/2)
TILLY'S HEART broke for Kiho when she saw the pained look on his face.
”Did the emperor only take me in because he needs me and not because he cares for me?” Kiho asked in a broken voice. ”Then, everything he has done for me until now has only been for show?”
Oh, Kiho…
She suddenly felt guilty. Maybe she could have said it to him more gently. Or perhaps, she shouldn't have said anything at all until she was sure about his real identity.
”I'm sorry, Kiho,” she said while cupping his face between her hands. ”Everything is just my speculation. I have no proof that the emperor has only been using you all this time. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything yet. I was so thoughtless…”
”No, you're not. You did the right thing, Tilly,” he said, putting his hands on top of hers. ”We should always share this kind of thing with each other. After all, this is our fight for our family.”
She knew he was right but she was still worried. ”How are you feeling, Kiho?”
”To be honest, the thought that the emperor only took me in because he needs me for something hurts me,” he confessed in a soft and sad voice. ”I know that I chose to betray His Majesty. But it doesn't mean that it didn't hurt. He wasn't just a brother to me. This is embarrassing but he was a father figure to me while I was growing up. While I owe a lot of things to my master, it was the emperor who taught me what a family is.” He smiled sadly at her. ”I'm sorry, Tilly. The emperor and the princess have hurt you. I shouldn't have said this to you so I apologize if I made you guilty.”
She was touched to hear that.
Ah, he knows that I feel guilty for making him choose between me and His Majesty.
”You have nothing to feel guilty for, Tilly,” he said to her. ”It was my choice to choose you over His Majesty. While that decision hurt me, I still don't regret it. You and our baby will always be my top priority.”
She smiled at that. ”Thank you for your unconditional love, hon,” she said. Then, she gave him a light kiss on the lips. ”How are you feeling now?”
”Better,” he said. ”But I will be much, much better with another kiss. The deep one. With tongue.”
”Gosh, you've become a pervert,” she complained playfully with a pout. ”Who taught you to become like that, huh?”
”You,” he said teasingly. ”So you should take responsibility, Tilly.”
”Fine,” Tilly said between giggles. Then, she laid on her back and opened her arms. ”Come here.”
Kiho smiled naughtily, then he carefully collapsed on top of her. ”I hope Father comes a little bit late.”
And she laughed at that.
***
FATHER looks confused.
Tilly held back her laughter when he saw her father's confused face when he saw the spread of giant seafood on the table.
Right now, they were in the dining hall.
Lord Prescott was the one sitting on the center as a sign of their respect for him.
Tilly sat on her father's left side while Kiho sat on his right side. So right now, she and her husband her sitting across each other.
But when there was only her and Kiho in the dining hall, they would eat side by side. He wasn't comfortable taking the center seat yet and she didn't want to pressure him. She knew that Kiho was studying hard to be a proper noble. But still, she wanted to follow his pace. Pressuring him to follow the nobility's strict protocol right away would only give him stress.
Anyway…
Tilly really found it amusing to see her father confused by giant seafood on the table.
She couldn't blame her father though. The higher nobles of the empire weren't really fond of seafood– especially those with shells because apparently, they didn't look ”elegant” to it. After all, food like King Crabs were food that would be enjoyed more if it was eaten with hands.
”Children,” her father said. ”Shouldn���t we ask the chef to open the shells first before he serves it to us?”
Tilly and Kiho exchanged knowing looks before they turned to Lord Prescott at the same time.
”Don't worry, Father,” Tilly assured him. ”We will teach you how to properly eat seafood.”
”And we have a small gift for you,” Kiho added, then he gave a wooden box to Lord Prescott. That box contained a crab mallet. ”We hope you like it, Father.”
***
AFTER having dinner, Tilly was now in the tea room with Kiho and her father.
The tea they were having was good for digestion. But that wasn't the only reason why they went there. Aside from the study, Kiho also embedded spirit stones in the tea room to protect the conversation being held there.
”The welcome party for you is already tomorrow night, Kiho,” her father said while looking at Kiho. Then, he elegantly put the tea cup on the table. ”How are you feeling?”
”A little nervous, Father,” Kiho admitted, then he sipped his tea before he continued. ”But I'll be fine. I'm seriously taking etiquette class these days.”
Tilly nodded in agreement. ”My husband is really working hard, Father. I'm sure he'll do us proud so don't worry about it.”
Kiho turned to her with a small, grateful smile.
She smiled back at him. You deserve the praise, hon.
Lord Prescott cleared his throat to get their attention. Then, he turned to her. ”Tilly, you're going to serve the High Priest a few days from now. How's your training going? Will you be able to protect yourself on your own while you're in the temple?”
”I'm starting to get the hang of it, Father,” she reported to him. ”Thanks to Captain Denver's advice, I can now control the amount of heat that my body should produce to burn stuff.”
The first time she made her body literally hot after her awakening, she burnt a face towel to ashes. But currently, she no longer burned stuff accidentally. In fact, if she concentrated hard enough, she could produce a small fire in the tip of her finger. Although its use was only to light up a candle.
But still, we owe Captain Denver a big one.
Captain Denver's advice was simple. According to the list that he gave Kiho, she must learn how to control her body temperature first based on what she wanted to do. Also, he recommended that she focused on meditation first to improve her concentration level.
And it's working.