"WHAT is your schedule while I"m gone, Tilly?""Father and I will visit our oyster farm tomorrow," Tilly said while having caviar in a tin can made of gold. As a duke"s daughter, she would always order the most expensive dish in the menu. If she didn"t, there would be rumors about House Prescott losing its power and money. In short, it was a display of wealth. Plus, Kiho was with her. Everyone in the empire knew that she was richer than him. Some brainless idiot might spread a rumor that Kiho couldn"t spoil her if she ordered something "modest" from a fancy restaurant. "I"ll probably be busy with the preparations for the launch of my new jewelry collection."
The date had been decided and they would release the collection three days after the Hunt. She was supposed to launch the collection this week but she ended up postponing. She wanted to focus on support Kiho in the upcoming Hunt first.
[Wife duties, y"all.]
"I left the key of the treasury room in your drawer," Kiho said casually. He was having a roasted salmon with truffle oil. Oh, they also got the most expensive bottle of red wine in the menu. "You can use it as you wish."
Her brain buffered for a minute. "Wait, what? You"re giving me the key to your treasury room?"
The treasury room in Kiho"s house (now their home) was where he kept all the treasures (obviously) that he got from his missions ever since he became a knight. His treasury room had everything from gold bars to the rarest jewelries. Most of them were also sent by Emperor Aku as reward to the captain.
In her past life, Kio gave her all the money he had but not the treasury room. He knew that she would just spend them mindlessly. She had to cry and accuse him of failing to be a good provider before he gave in.
[But he gave it to me so easily this time.]
She had really changed her life now.
"Are you sure, Kiho?" Tilly asked him. "It"s your treasury room."
"Everything I own belongs to you now, Tilly," Kiho said. "Please accept it."
Well, accepting the treasury was easy. In fact, she was even touched. But of course, this time, she"d be careful about using it.
[I might not touch the treasures at all.]
"Thank you, Kiho," she said while very touched. "I"ll take care of it very well."
Kiho gave him a smile. Then, his hand moved to gently caress her cheek. "Please take extra good care of yourself while I"m gone, Tilly. I"ll call thrice a day if I can."
That meant he"d miss her, right?
"You take care of yourself, too," Tilly said. Then, she placed a hand on top of his hand on her face. "I"ll miss you, Kiho. Please return home safely."
The glow in the captain"s golden eyes told her he"d come back home for her in no time.
***
"I DON"T know what you"re talking about, Aku," Nia denied. "I"m not delaying our wedding. Why would I even do that?"
"I don"t know," Aku said, his red eyes still glowing. "You tell me."
"Your Majesty," she said firmly and formally. "The High Priest decides the date of our wedding. How can I delay it?"
"That"s exactly what you"re going to tell me if Kiho wins the Hunt, Nia," he said strictly. "You"ve been meeting up with the High Priest since you got your first period when you were nine years old."
"Are you suspecting me and the High Priest?"
"Nia, we"re turning thirty years old soon," he reminded her in a cold voice. "Our parents were married when they were twenty five. We"re the only de Moonchesters who had their engagement this long."
"We are different from our parents and other predecessors," she insisted. "We"re the first pair of twins to be married in our history. The High Priest has already explained it to us before."
"Nia, I know that I"ve been spoiling you ever since we were kids," he started menacingly. "And I"m aware that I act foolish most of the time. But that doesn"t make me stupid. I want to trust you fully so I rarely get involved in your affair. But my patience has a limit, too."
"Your Majesty–"
"Let"s talk again after the Hunt," Aku said firmly, his red eyes still glowing menacingly. "You better tell me the truth then, Her Royal Highness Princess Nia Moonchester."
Nia clenched her hands tight. She couldn"t believe that Aku could treat her this way. It was a mistake to overestimate his love for her. If only killing him was easy, she would have done that a long time ago.
But they were twins so there was a special bind between them.
[If one of us dies, then the other will die as well.]
***
TILLY and Duke Prescott were standing at the deck of a farming boat while watching their people rake the oysters on the sea"s surface.
This was the first time they visited their oyster farm together. Her father wasn"t also that interested in their farm before. He only used the cultured pearls to trade them outside the empire. But now that her new jewelry line was focusing on pearls, they were paying more attention to their oyster farm.
"When will Captain Kiho return?" her father asked. "I heard he joined the Hunt for the first time. Shouldn"t he train first or something? I used to hunt myself so maybe I can teach your husband a thing or two."
Tilly smiled at her father"s attempt to get close to Kiho. "Kiho said he"ll be back before the Hunt, Father. We"ll visit you once he returns."
"You should," he said before he turned to her. "Tilly, I"m thinking of stepping down and pa.s.sing my t.i.tle to Captain Kiho."
She gasped in surprise.
[It"s happening earlier again!]
In her past life, her father only announced Kiho as his heir apparent after she gave birth to Winter. Her husband officially inherited the t.i.tle of duke when her father died when his son was barely three years old.
"Are you sure, Father?" she asked. "Have you talked about it to our va.s.sal families?"
"I"m the head of House Prescott," he reminded her strictly. "Why would their opinion matter?"
Oh, that was right.
"Ever since you met Captain Kiho, you"ve changed," the duke said later. "You"ve become a proper adult. I think he has good influence on you."
Well, Kiho really inspired her to be a better person. But to say that she only became a proper adult because of him didn"t sit well with him. Still, she didn"t complain. It wasn"t like she could tell her father that she was reborn.
"I"m relieved that you have a healthy relations.h.i.+p with your husband," her father continued. "That makes me have more faith in Captain Kiho."
She smiled at that. "Father, you can trust Kiho one hundred percent."
"I can see that," he agreed while nodding his head. "And for that reason, I want Captain Kiho to have his own family name."
Again, she gasped aloud. "Father…"
In her past life, Kiho inherited his father"s t.i.tle and he became Duke Kiho Prescott. To be precise, the captain married into her family.
But if her father would give Kiho the chance to have his own surname, that would mark the end of House Prescott. That was a rule unique to Moonchester Empire. She couldn"t believe that her father even thought of it. After all, House Prescott was an old family that had been around since the empire was built. They were practically as old as the royal family
And her father wanted to end their history in his generation?
"Father, are you sure?" Tilly asked in disbelief. "If Kiho uses another surname, a new family would be born. But in exchange, House Prescott would end in your generation. Do you understand what it means?"
The union of a vieux riche like her and a nouveau riche like Kiho was already controversial. But if House Prescott ends for Kiho"s future family name to rise…
[It would definitely be big!]
"Our dukedom won"t change its name even if House Prescott ends," her father reasoned. "You and Captain Kiho will still be the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Oakes."
"Father…"
"Tilly, it"s not like House Prescott will just magically disappear overnight," her father answered. "Once Captain Kiho gets his own surname, House Prescott will just become a new va.s.sal of your family. You will lead us to a new history."
That was… heavy.
"I will support Captain Kiho as his personal aide until he learns the ropes of being a duke," her father promise. "I will also lead the other va.s.sal families."
She suddenly got emotional. "You"re really going to do this for my husband, Father?"
"I"m not only doing this for the captain," the duke denied as if he was embarra.s.sed that she totally saw through him. Was her father a "tsundere" all along? "I want my grandson to be born into a loving but strong family. I know that a lot of higher n.o.bles still look down on Captain Kiho. I can"t just sit and watch my son-in-law being looked down just because he doesn"t have n.o.ble blood. Those fools don"t even realize that the age of the old families ruling over the empire is about to end."
She was so glad that her father was progressive.
"Father, thank you," she said sincerely. "I mean it."
"Just promise me one thing, Tilly."
She got nervous when she saw how serious her father was. "What is it, Father?"
"Whatever happens, do not go against the royal family," Duke Prescott said, almost pleading her. "Just bow your head and do not stand out, Tilly."
[Captain Denver said the same thing!]
Now Tilly was certain now.
[My father and Captain Denver are hiding something important about my ident.i.ty.]
But what was her family"s relations.h.i.+p with the master of the Fire Wielder Guild?
***
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