141 The Child of Ice and Fire (1/2)

THE MOON Serpent is here.

The heavy rain and the heat in the air told Forrester that Winter Nystrom was finally born. And that also meant that the people waiting for this moment would make their move.

Just like this one.

”Where do you think you're going, Your Royal Highness?” Forrester asked the princess that he caught trying to sneak out of her chamber.

Princess Nia, despite being caught, remained calm. ”Your Holiness, I know that the temple is your home and I am just a mere guest. But I hope you're not forgetting the fact that I'm still the princess and the future empress. You can't carelessly roam around my room. Especially not at this hour.”

He smirked at that.

Based on the black elegant dress that Her Royal Highness wore tonight, it didn't look like she was about to sleep anyway.

”You should say that to the people waiting for you outside, Princess Nia,” he said, purposely calling her by her name to remind her of his position. She might be the princess, but as the saint of the empire, she couldn't easily dismiss him as a mere subject of the royal family. ”I don't accept visitors at this hour– especially not if the guests in question have questionable characters. I'm afraid I have to humbly ask you to make them leave, Your Royal Highness.”

The princess scowled at him.

Obviously, a spoiled brat like her wouldn't be happy to not get what she wanted.

Your Majesty, look at how rotten your beloved has become because you've spoiled her too much.

”Your Holiness, I don't want to fight you,” Princess Nia said in a menacing voice, her dangerous Mana leaking out as a threat. ”Just so you know, I'm already fully recovered. I can kill you right here, right now and I'm sure my brother will still cover up for me.”

He laughed at her childish threat. ”I love how you claim to be disgusted by His Majesty, only to bring him up whenever you're in a tight spot. It makes me wonder if you really hate the emperor or you just don't want to accept the fact that you can't literally live without him?”

The princess sent a dark ball of energy at him.

He just slapped it like a fly but the poor innocent wall that was hit by the energy ball cracked because of the impact.

Oh, damn.

He would definitely never hear the end of it from Howard.

”That was just a warning, Your Holiness,” Princess Nia said. ”The next time I attack, I'll make sure you'd be half-dead.”

”Scary,” he said sarcastically. ”Without my Holy Scepter and with my divine powers sealed, I am no match for you, Your Royal Highness.”

The princess smiled triumphantly.

”That's why I sent a message to His Majesty.”

As expected, the princess's smile was gone in an instant. ”What?”

Anger ruined the princess's beautiful face. ”Your Holiness!”

”I didn't promise that I won't tell His Majesty that you're already awake,” he reminded her. ”That was Howard, not me.”

He only kept quiet all this time because he thought he could keep an eye on Princess Nia if she stayed in the temple. But the sudden birth of the Moon Serpent changed everything.

Thank goodness I trusted my instinct.

When he felt the change in the weather, he already had a feeling that the Moon Serpent would be born earlier than expected. He also knew that Princess Nia would make a move to steal Lady Nystrom's heart as soon as she gave birth.

That was why he secretly sent an urgent message to the emperor.

Come and pick up your baggage, Your Majesty.

”Instead of wasting my time on me, why don't you ask your guests to leave first, Your Royal Highness?” he said, seriously this time. ”If His Majesty finds them waiting for you, I'm sure that he won't be happy to know that you summoned your collection first instead of him.”

Princess Nia hissed at him. But in the end, she probably realized that he was right. And so, she ran back to her chamber.

You better put your acting skills to good use and pretend that you just woke up, Princess Nia.

Well, he didn't care about the royal twins' drama. He just didn't want his temple to get destroyed if the two fought.

The last time those two fought physically, they flattened a mountain.

Anyway, after making sure that Princess Nia and his underlings wouldn't attack the Nystroms anymore, he left the area.

”Your Holiness, where are you going?”

He turned around to find Howard. The High Priest had been working for him for many decades already but still, he couldn't fully trust him. Not that he trusted a lot of people. ”His Majesty is on his way. I told him that Her Royal Highness has ”just” woken up.”

The High Priest looked shocked. ”But why did you do that, Your Holiness? Her Royal Highness asked us to keep it a secret.”

”Do I look like the type of person who would listen to other people?”

”No. Definitely not,” Howard said right away. ”But are you heading somewhere, Your Holiness?”

”Yes. So you take care of His Majesty,” Forrester said, then he turned his back on the High Priest without giving more explanation. A god's rebirth is more important than a dumb emperor's visit.

***

KIHO'S heart was torn.

He knew that Winter needed the improvised ”incubator” that Miss Luna asked him to do. But at the same time, he couldn't take his eyes off of Tilly who was barely conscious. He knew for a fact that they shouldn't allow his wife to fall asleep at that moment.

Winter also wouldn't stop crying as if he was in pain.

He felt so worthless because he couldn't do anything for his wife and son.

”Honey, hang in there,” Kiho said to Tilly, his voice cracked a little. His hands were busy creating an ”ice cube” big enough for Winter, but his eyes focused on Tilly. He knew that he should worry about his son that was in Miss Luna's arms right now. But still… ”Please be strong for us, Tilly. You can't leave us, okay? You can't… I can't live without you…”

Tilly remained still, her chest barely moving to indicate that she was still breathing.

That sight of her scared the shit out of him,

He wasn't religious but at that very moment, he prayed to the gods to not take his wife away from them. From him. He really wouldn't be able to handle it if he lost Tilly.

”Duke Nystrom, I think that's big enough for your son,” Miss Luna said. ”I'll put the baby inside now.”

With a heavy heart, he tore his gaze away from Tilly for a moment to look at the witch and his son. ”How is Winter supposed to breathe in there? And wouldn't he freeze?”

There was a towel wrapped around his son but he knew it wouldn't be enough.

”Your son's dominant Mana is ice. He'll breathe in your Mana just fine,” the witch explained. ”Actually, that's what he needs right now. And the young lord wouldn't freeze. Don't forget that he has Lady Nystrom's Mana as well. That means half of his Mana is fire. Just like Lady Nystrom, he wouldn't feel cold.”

After saying that, Miss Luna carefully put Winter inside the ice cube that floated in the air.

Then, the witch asked him to watch over his son as she ran toward Tilly.

He held in his breath while watching his son. If Winter showed any sign that he was uncomfortable, he would immediately melt the ice.

Thankfully, and much to his relief, Winter stopped crying as soon as he was inside the cube.

In fact, his son looked more comfortable now. He also noticed that Winter's complexion suddenly looked better. It was as if his Mana was somehow ”nutritious” to him.

It was a huge relief.