266 THE CURSED DESCENDANTS 5 (1/2)

”TILLY, what is it that you want to tell me?” Kiho asked while pouring tea in her tea cup. Since there were no servants in that house, he volunteered to make to for his wife. ”Does it have to do with the punishment of our descendants?”

”Yes,” Tilly said, then she smiled at him. ”Thank you for making tea, Kiho.”

He nodded, glad to have served his wife even in just a simple way. Then, he sat on the sofa from across her. ”Tilly, actually, I also thought of a way to punish our descendants without killing them.”

She sipped her tea before she asked. ”Interesting. Let's hear your idea first.”

”Alright,” he said, then he explained. ”But honey, let me ask you first: do you still think that we, as their ancestors, should end their lives for the crimes that they had committed?”

He remembered that Tilly promised herself to kill the people who killed Lord Prescott.

When they met Garnet Nystrom for the first time, she also threatened the North King that she would take their lives by her very own hands. But he was also aware of the fact that when Tilly was angry, she sometimes spat words that she didn't mean.

And of course, she was allowed to change her mind.

”I'm ashamed, but my temper got the best of me when I said that we have the right to end their lives since we are the reason why they existed in the first place,” Tilly admitted with a sigh. ”But still, they should be punished. Even though they suffered when they were still alive, it's not an acceptable excuse to kill innocent people.”

”I agree with you,” he said with a firm nod. ”Since they are our descendants, we must stop them from being evil.” He paused, then he continued in a soft voice. ”We must put them to rest. Cheating death itself is already a grave sin.”

”I feel like we'd fail if we put them to rest without us making them regret the crimes that they have committed,” she said. ”I want them to understand what they did wrong. I don't want them to leave this world without feeling remorseful.” She let out a frustrated sigh. ”But it seems like they have already lost their emotions. The only thing that they probably feel now is anger towards us.”

”Tilly, we really are soul mates.”

She looked surprised by what he said, then she laughed softly. ”That's so random, Kiho.”

”Not really,” he said gently while shaking his head. ”I was talking to Julian and Winter a while ago. Our children reminded me that Garnet Nystrom and the rest of his ice puppet army were all humans before. But their grudge and the long life that they lived seemed to erase the human emotions that they had before. I believe that's the reason why they're no longer capable of differentiating right from wrong.”

She nodded in agreement. ”That's true.”

She blinked several times as if she was surprised, then she laughed softly. ”We really are soul mates, Kiho.”

That instantly put him in a good mood.

”I'm thinking of creating a spell that would melt the ice puppets on their own will,” his wife said after a while.

”Tilly, creating a spell that powerful might put you in danger,” he said worriedly. ”Fire Mages get weak when they make spells that don't involve summoning flame, don't you? And the last time that you created a spell, you were punished.”

”Don't worry. I'm better at making spells now,” she assured him. ”I think.”

”Tilly…”

He wanted to stop her but he knew that once she made up her mind, it wouldn't be possible even for him to change it. All he could do was to worry about her, and stand behind her to make sure that she wouldn't get hurt again.

After all, despite how much he worried about her, he knew in his heart that Tilly shined the brightest whenever she did her best to protect her people.

”The spell that I want to create will give the choice to the ice puppets whether to stay like that, or return as human beings to die as one,” she explained carefully. ”Don't you think it matched your plan, Kiho? After you show them the memories of their lives when they were still humans, I will cast the spell on them. If they want to die as human beings after being reminded of the lives that they lost when they became ice puppets, my flame will melt them. Then, my spell will temporarily give them back their human bodies before they die.”

”That sounds plausible,” he said while nodding his head. ”My Water Memory technique will work well with the spell that you will create.”

”Let's try it on Thaddeus Nystrom,” she said. ”We need to know how much energy it will take for us to do our plan to one person. So that we will have an idea on how much more energy do we need for the rest of the ice puppet army.”

”I agree,” Kiho said with a firm nod, then he extended his hand to his wife. ”It's an honor to work with you again, Supreme Fire Mage with many other titles.”

His wife laughed softly and no matter how cliché and sappy it would sound, he'd still say that her laughter was music to his ears.

”The pleasure is mine, Black Serpent,” Tilly said when she took his hand in hers. ”Now, it's time to work for real.”

***

KIHO, after reminiscing the conversation he had with Tilly a while ago, was now standing in front of Thaddeus Nystrom's cellar.