109 Duchess Nystroms Tea (1/2)

THAT damned holy fossil.

Tilly was pissed because after Saint Forrester dragged her to the parlor, he left her there saying that he wanted to take a bath first.

And because the saint literally ran off by himself, the servants of the church that were supposed to assist them ran after him. At least, those people had already served the tea and the snacks before they left her.

But she wasn't mad. Aside from the fact that she'd rather be alone than socialize with strangers, she knew that the most important person in the church right now was His Holiness.

I can't believe that a person as important as the saint is a crazy dude.

To lessen her stress, she ate the macaroons served on the table. She wanted to eat the sandwiches but she held back, remembering that she had a breakfast ”meeting” with the saint.

Gosh, I'm so hungry. If Kiho finds out that I didn't have breakfast before going to the church, he'd be super angry at the High Priest. My husband never lets me starve, you know? He asked our chef and kitchen staff to always prepare good food for me even if I'm not hungry.

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

”Come in,” she said, then she sipped her tea.

She almost choked on her tea when the door opened and His Majesty entered the parlor with Sir Gregory.

Gosh!

Tilly immediately stood up and bowed politely. ”Greetings to the only moon of our Great Moonchester Empire.”

”Don't be too formal, Lady Nystrom,” Emperor Aku said, then he sat down on the accent chair across from the sofa that she was using. Sir Gregory stood behind the emperor. ”Take a seat.”

She bowed again before sitting down.

As a proper higher noblewoman, she poured some tea for the emperor. He might be an enemy, but that wasn't an excuse to not follow the protocol. No matter how evil His Majesty was, he was still the emperor. As a duchess, her status came with responsibility.

If Sir Gregory is the one who's accompanying His Majesty here, then Captain Sherwood might be the one guarding outside. Is Kiho outside as well?

”Kiho isn't here,” His Majesty said as if he could read her facial expression right now. Or perhaps, it was too obvious that she was looking for her husband. ”I asked him to wait for the carriage that I prepared for you and His Holiness.”

”Is that a job that should be given to a duke?”

His Majesty looked surprised by her retort.

Sir Gregory remained pokerfaced but his twitched slightly.

”Your Majesty, with all due respect, Kiho is no longer the captain of the Black Serpent Knights,” she reminded him ”politely.” ”I know that officially, my husband is only on a year-long vacation. But we both know that he will never return to his former position. He is now the Duke of Oakes and it will remain that way for as long as House Nystrom stands.”

She just smiled and sipped her tea.

”Arrogance it is,” he declared while shaking his head. ”It looks like you know what will happen to House Nystrom now after you have woken up His Holiness. Your family has lucked out, Lady Nystrom.”

”It's not luck, Your Majesty,” she said with a smile. ”It's good karma.”

”I'm speechless,” the emperor said, then he sipped his tea before he continued. ”Anyway, I'm not giving Kiho a menial job just because I want to. Checking the carriage that you and His Holiness will be using is an important task. And I plan to make him the leader of the temporary security team that I'm arranging for His Holiness.”

She smirked because she knew what His Majesty was doing.

The emperor wants to make it look like he's the one who assigned Kiho to stick with His Holiness. He doesn't want other people to think that His Holiness asked for her and her husband's company. In short, His Majesty doesn't want to make a big deal out of our sudden closeness with the saint.

”I hate that look,” the emperor said. ”You're looking at me like you know exactly what I'm doing.”

Ah, His Majesty was seriously perceptive.

But that made sense. As an emperor, it was his duty to be very observant of his surroundings. And thus, he was wary of people around him.

”How can a lowly subject like me know what His Majesty is thinking?” she said in a slightly sarcastic tone. ”Please don't overestimate me.”

He smirked while shaking his head again. ”If you didn't do that to my beloved Nia, I think we would have been great friends.”

Okay, that surprised her a little.

The emperor wasn't being subtle at all.

Then, there was no reason for her to hold back now.

”I don't want to be friends with a person who wants me dead,” she deadpanned. ”Plus, please don't make it sound like the princess didn't deserve what happened to her.”

”Careful, Lady Nystrom,” he warned her menacingly. ”You can disrespect me all you want and I'll just laugh it off. But talking that way to my Nia– especially in her terrible state right now– is unforgivable.”

She would admit that the emperor's rising Mana scared her.

But her anger was still bigger than her fear.

”If you don't want people to talk badly about Her Royal Highness, then you should have raised her as a decent human being,” she snapped back. ”She wouldn't have been burnt to crisp in the first place if she didn't come at an innocent woman who just wants to have a peaceful like with her husband and son.”

Emperor Aku seethed at her. ”Matilda 'Tilly' Nystrom.”

”Aku Moonchester,” she hissed back at him.

Okay, she just committed a grave sin.

Calling the emperor by his name was actually a crime punishable by death.

No wonder Sir Gregory was now pointing his sword at her neck.