"PLEASE NO!"Tilly gasped when she heard the noise. As soon as she opened her eyes, she felt her body float. Now that she was conscious, she realized what was happening around her.
This is like what Luna said.
A gentle force helped her stand on the floor and didn"t leave her until she got her balance back. Then, she observed her surroundings.
He really got paralyzed.
Howard, the High Priest, was frozen while kneeling in front of her. He was holding the dagger that he cut her with. The wound in her hand still stung a bit but a drop of her blood was the one that protected her.
"Miss Luna, you"re really cool," Tilly said while looking at the wound in her palm. It had stopped bleeding and the wound itself was starting to heal. "I can"t believe you predicted this to happen."
***
[Last night…]
"LADY Nystrom, I want you to be careful with what you eat and drink once you"re in the temple," Luna told her. Right now, they were in the balcony of her room while having tea. "The temple is a holy place but not everyone in there can be trusted. I"m sure that they wouldn"t kill you. But since you have the heart, they might need something else from you. There"s only one way to get what they want without killing you. Do you know what I"m talking about?"
Tilly fell in a deep thought, then she snapped her fingers when she remembered the Korean crime and detective dramas that she used to watch in her second life. "They will probably try to make me fall asleep."
"Exactly," the witch said as if she was proud of her quick-thinking. "We should consider every move that the enemies will make. One of them is trying to make you sleep by mixing something in your food or drinks."
"How can Tilly protect herself from that?" Kiho, who was sitting beside her, asked. "Miss Luna, do you have a medicine or a spell that will protect my wife from sleeping medicines?"
"We can do that but simply avoiding an attack isn"t my style," the witch said. "If we were attacked, we must attack as well."
Tilly"s ears perked up at that. "What should I do if I find myself in a situation where the enemy tries to make me fall asleep, Miss Luna?"
"Catch them and gather evidence against them," Luna said confidently, then she sipped her tea before she continued. "The downside is you have to let them think that they got you."
"Are you saying that Tilly has to fall into their trap even if there"s a way to avoid it?" Kiho asked with a frown. "Miss Luna, I want to remind you that my wife would be alone in the temple."
"I know," the witch said casually. "I didn"t say that Lady Nystrom will be left unprotected." She turned to her. "Lady Nystrom, before you go, I will cast a protective spell on you. It"s the kind of spell that will only activate if you suddenly lost consciousness. While you"re in that state, anyone who touches you with ill-intentions–"
"Must perish," Kiho declared in a menacing tone, cutting off the witch who obviously looked offended. "Miss Luna, make a spell that will kill them in the most painful way if they touch my Tilly."
"I wish killing the enemies was that easy, Your Grace," Luna said while shaking her head. "Unfortunately, the High Priest is an influential person in the empire. Even the commoners love him. If he or his servants were killed and Lady Nystrom was framed up for it, what would you do? Getting her arrested would only give the enemies the upperhand."
Kiho blushed as if he was suddenly embarra.s.sed. "I apologize for my hasty decision, Miss Luna," he said, then she turned to him. "Tilly, I"m sorry for not thinking straight."
Tilly touched his face. "It"s okay, hon. I know you"re just worried about me. But let"s calm down for now. I"m sure Miss Luna wouldn"t let me get hurt."
"d.a.m.n right," Luna said which made them turn to the witch. "Once I accept someone as my patient, I never let any harm befall on them."
She smiled at that, relieved and happy that her decision to make Luna her doctor was correct after all. "Thank you, Miss Luna."
Luna just nodded before she continued. "Anyway, as I was saying a while ago, anyone who would touch you with ill-intention would have a hallucination where they would experience extreme pain. In that hallucination, they would "die" in the way they feared most. And while they were experiencing that, they would be paralyzed. And if the enemies made you shed blood, the pain that they would experience would feel like it was real."
"So in short, mental torture, huh?" she said while nodding her head. "I like that."
"I guess that would suffice," Kiho agreed. "But Miss Luna, what should Tilly do after that?"
"Good question," the witch said, then she turned to her. "Lady Nystrom, I heard that your family produces the best spirit stones in the empire."
"We do," she answered proudly. "What kind of spirit stone do I need to provide?"
"The one that could capture moments," the witch said with an evil smile. "If we caught the enemy in action, then shouldn"t we preserve the moment for everyone to see?"
"A recording gem," Kiho said, then he turned to her. "It"s one of the most expensive spirit stones but I"m sure House Prescott has it."
"Of course," Tilly said. "I"ll call father to have it delivered now."
"Alright," Luna said while cracking the bones in her knuckles. "Now let me cover you with protective spells from head to toe, Lady Nystrom."
***
"I WONDER what kind of hallucination you"re having right now, Your Eminence," Tilly wondered to herself while pointing the tip of the fountain pen at the High Priest. He looked like he was in pain and he was perspiring a lot even though it was cold in the chamber. And speaking of cold… "Where did that ice come from?"
She had been wondering why there was a thin layer of ice around the High Priest"s ankles.
Did Luna put an ice protection on her or…
"Winter?" she whispered under her breath. Then, she placed a hand on her tummy. "Baby, did you protect me?"
In what seemed like a response, she felt a tiny beat in her chest that wasn"t from her heart.
"Aww," she said, touched. "Thank you, our little cinnamon roll."
Now she was more eager to get her revenge.
She focused all her energy on taking one last shot (as in recording video) of the High Priest.
That fountain pen served as her personal CCTV. She didn"t know when she would be attacked so she placed the magical pen on her night table ad activated it as soon as she arrived. Meaning, the pen recorded everything that happened in her chamber.
She just wanted to make sure that the High Priest"s face would be seen clearly in the video.
Thank goodness for my family"s inventions.
The only thing she regretted was not calculating where she"d fall. She didn"t expect that they would put the sleeping pill in the welcome drink. If she considered that, she would have stood closer to the bed and plopped there instead.
Sorry, Winter. Mommy should have been careful. I hope you"re okay.
As soon as she was done recording, she did what Luna told her to do: scratch the nib of the pen on the mark around her wedding ring. Like the witch said, the fountain disappeared. That meant that the evidence was safely delivered to Luna.
Her power is so useful.
"Stop!"
Tilly flinched when the High Priest shouted again.
Oh, the hallucination is over.
Howard looked confused when looking around while catching his breath. Then, he looked up at her with wide eyes. "Lady Nystrom…" He looked at his arms and his torso as if he couldn"t believe that he was still in one piece. "I thought I was burned alive…"
She raised an eyebrow at that.
Luna said that the person experiencing hallucination would get the death that they feared most. So, that"s the High Priest"s fear? To be burned alive?
The High Priest looked up at her. "Lady Nystrom…"
She was quite taken aback by the High Priest"s beauty. To be honest, she recognized him right away because she remembered him from her first life. But wow, she was still surprised at how handsome he was.
He had white hair but he still looked young. His eyes were green and his skin was very pale. She knew that he was really old but his youthful look almost made her forget about his real age.
"Greetings, Your Eminence," Tilly said with a smile. Then, she sat on the bed, crossed her legs, and looked down at him with a glare. "Just so you know, I have already sent the evidence of your a.s.sault to an ally. If something bad happens to me again, they will post the video I got and expose your crime to the whole empire. I want to respect you as one of the highest authorities of the church. But I don"t bow down to people who tried to kill me. So please understand why I won"t use the manners engraved into my every fiber on you, Your Eminence."
"It"s perfectly fine if you speak informally to me, Lady Nystrom," Howard said. He was still on his knees as if he really intended to kneel before her. "I am the High Priest, the second highest authority in the church. But compared to you and the child inside your womb, I am nothing. Your existence is even more sacred than the saint himself."
Her forehead knotted in confusion. To be honest, she didn"t expect that development. She thought that the High Priest was an ally to the royal twins. But of course, she wouldn"t trust him that easily.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked him. "Why is my existence more sacred than the saint because of my child?"
Howard smile– the kind of smile that made her skin crawl for some reason. "Your Grace, do you want to hear the full prophecy about your child?"
Tilly gulped, tempted but still careful. "I will hear you out but it doesn"t mean I already trust you, Your Eminence."
***
"MISS LUNA, let me go," Kiho hissed at the witch. But still, he couldn"t move an inch from where he stood. "Tilly is in danger."
Currently, he was in the house that Lord Prescott lent him. He brought Luna along as per his wife"s request. And he wanted Luna to be near the temple as well so they could rescue Tilly fast if they needed to.
But now, he kind of regretted bringing her along.
A few moments ago, while they were sharing an awkward tea time, a fountain pen suddenly appeared on Luna"s hand. When she played the video recorded by the spirit stone embedded in the pen, they saw how the High Priest himself tried to hurt Tilly.
As soon as he saw that, he tried to leave. But Luna casted a binding spell on him. It was so strong that he couldn"t break it even with his Mana.
"Lady Nystrom is fine," Luna said seriously. "I would know if her life is in danger. And if she was, she would have summoned you. The fact that she sent the evidence here instead of calling you is proof that she can handle the situation. I understand that you"re worried about your wife. But Your Grace, the madam isn"t weak. Trust her."
That helped him calm down. "Are you sure that Tilly is safe?"
"Yes," the witch said confidently. "I covered her with protective spell from head to toe. Her minor wounds would heal easily as well. Let"s trust Lady Nystrom. If she isn"t calling for help, then she might be trying to deal the matter by her own hands. Don"t you trust your wife?"
It was hard for him to totally calm down but he felt a bit at ease now. "Tilly is smart. I"m just a little worried because she has a bad temper."
She laughed softly. "As far as I know, even the first Supreme who protected the heart had a bad temper."
"That"s her charm though," Kiho defended his wife. "Even though she has a bad temper, she"s still cute."
"Stop," the witch told him while looking at him with pitiful eyes. "Your Grace, I don"t need to know how much you love Lady Nystrom because it"s only breaking my heart."
He was about to ask about it but she changed the subject.
The witch snapped her fingers, freeing him from the binding spell. "Get ready, Your Grace," she told him while standing up. "We have other jobs to do."
Kiho finally relaxed when the binding spell was finally gone. "What kind of job?"
"Stalking," Luna said with a playful smile. "We have some rats to catch."
***
"I WANT to hear the full prophecy," Tilly said to the High Priest. "I hope you don"t lie this time, Your Eminence."
"I won"t, d.u.c.h.ess Nystrom," Howard said seriously, still kneeling in front of her. "My lady, you know that the emperor is referred to as the only moon of the empire, don"t you?"
"I know," she answered. "What about it?"
"In our empire"s history, the emperor is always referred to as the moon," the High Priest continued. "When I received the prophecy from G.o.d, I saw the moon being swallowed by a giant serpent. The emperor, obviously, is the moon. Who do you think represents the serpent that I saw in the prophecy?"
Tilly got gooseb.u.mps, her hands automatically covering her tummy as a way to protect Winter in her womb. "Are you saying that my son is that serpent?"
"Yes, Your Grace," Howard said, a crazy smile now etching his face. He was handsome, no doubt about it. But the lunatic look on his face was anything but attractive. "Your son is the serpent that will swallow the moon. It means your child is the one who will end the Moonchesters," he continued, his smile getting creepier. "d.u.c.h.ess Nystrom, your son is the Moon Serpent– the giant silver snake that exists in the sky."
***
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