117 Lovely Glow (1/2)
”YOUR heart ached when you saw my face?” Kiho asked in a worried voice. ”Did I do something that upset you, Tilly?”
Tilly looked up at him and shook her head. ”No. My heart just ached from happiness upon seeing you again, Kiho.”
He was relieved to hear that. The one thing he feared most in the world was being hated by the only woman he loved. He didn't know if he could live a life without his Tilly. ”I'm happy, too. Are you sure you're not hurt anywhere?”
”I'm fine,” she assured him. ”In fact, I feel better than ever.”
Still, that didn't stop him from checking her out for any physical injury. Her Mana was stable now and it was back to its usual ”weak” state. But he noticed one change about his wife. ”Tilly, I think your hair has gotten a little darker than usual. It looks almost black now.”
”Really?”
He nodded before he explained. ”Your hair has always been the richest possible brown shade that I've ever seen in my life. But now, the shade falls at the intersection of brown and black color.”
”Does the new shade of my hair look good on me?”
”You look more beautiful, Tilly.”
She smiled and pulled his nape for a kiss but stopped when they heard Sentinel's loud ”cough.”
”Control yourselves,” Sentinel warned them. ”We have a baby here, you know?”
”Kiho, put me down,” his wife said. ”I have something I need to confirm.”
He nodded, then he gently and carefully put Tilly down. He didn't let go of her until he was sure that his wife had the strength to stand on her own. As soon as he took his hands off her, she ran towards Sentinel who was holding the baby.
Ah, I'm glad to see that she's as energetic as usual.
His thoughts were cut-off when he realized that Julian, Flint's baby younger, was looking at him straight in the eye. Okay, that gave him chills. Why was the baby looking at him like he knew something that he didn't?
But as soon as Tilly came towards Julian, the baby tore his gaze away from him to act all cutesy to his wife. Julian giggled like an innocent baby that he was supposed to be.
His brows furrowed. That baby is–
”You're strange, Julian,” Tilly said the words that he had in mind. ”You can't be a normal baby!”
Kiho felt so proud of his wife's perceptiveness. Ah, my Tilly and I think alike.
***
TILLY held Julian's soft and tiny hands while looking straight in the baby's eye. ”You're strange, Julian,” she declared. ”You can't be a normal baby!”
Julian, for a baby, looked offended by what she said.
”I mean that in a good way,” she said. ”Being different is not a bad thing.”
The baby giggled as if he understood the meaning behind her words.
Yep, he's not a normal baby.
”Thank you for showing me Flint's situation,” she told him sincerely.
”I'll try to figure out what you are later,” she said while slowly letting go of his tiny hands. ”I'll check on Flint first.” When Julian just smiled at her, she turned to Sentinel. ”Sentinel, babysit Julian for a little longer. We'll be back as soon as we can.”
Sentinel bowed to her which was a little bit surprising. ”As you wish, Lady Nystrom.”
Why is he suddenly being so polite?
Anyway, she didn't have time for that for now.
Tilly turned to Kiho and extended her hand to him. ”Kiho, can you find where Captain Denver is? I have a feeling that he is where Flint is.”
”I don't know what's going on but yes, I can trace Captain Denver's Mana to find where he is,” Kiho said, then he took her hand. ”Tilly, we need to talk after this.”
***
”ARE YOU going to lock me up here forever, Captain Denver?”
Mikhail Denver wanted to punch the daylights out of Count Huxley but he refrained from doing so. Thankfully, there were prison bars between him and the count. Yes, after arresting Count Huxley for attempted murder, he threw him in the cell in the basement of the tower. He also called the royal palace to ask for royal knights to arrest the count.
If he wasn't protecting anyone, he would have just killed Count Huxley by his hands.
But as a noble and the captain of Red Phoenix Knights, he couldn't be too reckless.
Aside from the secret that he wanted to protect, Count Huxley was also a higher-noble that he couldn't simply kill. Especially considering the fact that House Huxley was one of Her Royal Highness's closest aides.
”I will request for a noble trial,” Mikhail Denver said in the calmest voice he could muster. ”I will make sure that you get the heaviest punishment possible for attempting to kill my disciple, Lord Huxley.”
”Do what you must, captain,” Count Huxley said with a smirk. ”But I can't promise that I'd keep my mouth shut about your real identity once the trial begins.” His smirk eventually turned into a hiss. ”And during the trial, I will also bring up the fact that you killed Lady Alisa Hayward. Can you see it now, Captain Denver? I have the upperhand here.”
”Do you have evidence?”
”What?”