75 Lady with a Crab Malle

"OH MY gosh," Tilly said while looking at an array of clothes presented in front of her. "This is going to be a huge problem."

Right now, she was in their dress room. Actually, it was a very grand room where all the finest silks and clothes in the mansion were kept. She was there with Lord Simone and his elite team of dress tailors and designers.

Lord Simone was the best tailor for men's clothes in the whole empire. His family had been making clothes for the royal family for many decades now.

As Emperor Aku's gift for Kiho's debut in the high society, His Majesty sent Lord Simone– a viscount– to make some custom-made suits for her husband a few weeks ago. The tailor got Kiho's size and checked his other clothes for "reference."

And now, Lord Simone and his team visited their residence to show them the finished products. They presented all the suits they made for Kiho.

"I like them all," Tilly declared while seated on the sofa. "My husband has a gorgeous body so anything he wears looks good on him."

Lord Simone and his staff stifled a laugh at her shameless declaration.

[But did I lie?]

Also, in fairness to Lord Simone and his team, they weren't as snotty as she thought they would be considering the fact that they literally made clothes for the emperor. They were polite, approachable, and open-minded.

"That, I agree," Lord Simone said with a polite smile. "I'm certain that any suit would fit His Grace well."

["His Grace."]

Tilly smiled. Her husband's new title sounds music to her ears. Anyway, she turned to Kiho who was sitting beside her. But instead of the clothes in front of them, her dorky husband was looking at her. Gosh, was he in love with her face or something? "Hon, I like all the clothes that Lord Simone and his team made for you. But of course, you get to choose what you'd want to wear for your debut, Kiho."

Kiho's debut would be the night he would be officially known as His Grace Kiho Nystrom, Duke of Oakes.

Instead of throwing a huge banquet as celebration, they decided to opt for a simple dinner instead. Only the emperor and House Prescott's vassal families were invited. But it wouldn't be considered rude because after the tragedy that happened to Princess Nia, there had been an unspoken rule that big parties were prohibited in the Royal Capital.

She was fine with it because she wasn't a fan of huge banquets as well.

The only downside was they would be forced to face Emperor Aku again.

"I like all the clothes as well," Kiho finally said after admiring her face. Then, he turned to Lord Simone. But his hand was still holding hers tightly. "I have a request though."

"We'll be honored to grant a request from you, Your Grace," Lord Simone said. "We're humbly listening."

"Whatever suit I choose, I want you to make a matching one for Duke Prescott," Kiho said. "I want to have matching clothes with my father."

Lord Simone smiled fondly and bowed to Kiho. ��As you wish, Your Grace."

Tilly suddenly felt emotional. When Kiho turned to her, she smiled at him and squeezed his hand. He didn't smile back at her but the glow of happiness in his yellowish eyes was more than enough. [Thank you for being kind to my father, Kiho.]

***

"TILLY, I have a surprise for you."

Tilly smiled at the excitement that she saw in Kiho's face when he entered her office. She closed the accounting book that she had been checking. When she noticed that he was hiding something behind her back, she giggled. "What is it, hon?"

Kiho sat on her table, his hands still hidden behind his back. "Guess what finally got approved today?"

She blinked while thinking. Then, she gasped. "Don't tell me…?"

"Yes," he said excitedly. Then, he finally showed the surprise he was hiding behind him. It was a scroll. "The crest of our new family had been approved by the palace. You haven't seen it yet, right?"

"I haven't," she said with a pout. "You and Father have kept it a secret from me."

Ever since the day her father approved Kiho's choice of name, the two had been working together for their family's crest.

"Here," he said, then handed the scroll to her. "I want to show you the final design first."

She smiled and accepted the scroll. "Thank you, Kiho."

Taking a deep breath first, she finally opened the scroll.

She gasped when she saw the final design of their new family crest.

The background of the crest was midnight blue. In the center, there was a black snake with golden eyes that had its body wrapped around a wooden…

… crab mallet?

Tilly laughed softly, then she looked up at her husband. He looked just as happy as she was. "Hon, is this a crab mallet?"

Kiho nodded eagerly. "The crab mallet is you. Originally, I wanted your face plastered on our crest. But Father scolded me. He said everyone in the empire already knows that I'm head over heels for you even without putting your face on our crest."

"I'm glad that Father rejected it," she said while shaking her head. "I mean, I appreciate the thought. But it would have been embarrassing to see my face everywhere."

"I thought about it as well," he admitted. "And I don't want other men from other places discover how beautiful my wife is."

She blushed at that. Kiho tended to say sweet nothings that would often catch her off-guard. And she loved that about him. "Good job on coming up with the perfect item to honor me."

"Thank you, honey," he said. "I also wanted to put a crab on the crest but Father scolded me again."

She laughed at that. "I wish I could have seen Father scolding you."

"Father doesn't yell or get violent but his still voice is still scary."

She nodded in agreement. "True. Anyway, please continue explaining the details of our crest, Kiho."

"The snake with the color of my eyes is me," he continued. "I wanted to add a little snake for our Baby Winter but I thought it would be unfair for our next child if only their brother is included in the family crest."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Kiho, do you want to have more kids?"

He nodded, suddenly looking nervous. "D-Don't you want to have more kids, honey?"

She focused on Winter since she came back because he was the only child she had in her past life.

But now that she had a good relationship with Kiho, it wouldn't be impossible for them to have another kid. Of course, that was assuming that they survived their "silent war" with the royal family.

And if they survived…

"I want a daughter," she admitted with a shy smile. "I want a mini me."

In her past life, Winter looked like Kiho's carbon copy. So if they were going to have a new baby, she wanted her mini version.

"I want a daughter as well," Kiho said with a small smile. Then, he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Let's work hard after you give birth to Winter."

She laughed and lightly punched his arm.

After a short make out session, her husband finally continued explaining the crest to her.

"I chose midnight blue as the background color as a nod to House Prescott's family color," Kiho finished. "Did you like it?"

"No," she teased him with a straight face. When his face fell, she giggled and pinched his cheek. "Hon, I love it!"

His face lit up again. "God, Tilly. I thought you didn't like it. Father approved it but he was worried that the crest was too simple for our status."

"It's simple but meaningful," she assured him. "That's also the kind of family that I want to build with you. So for me, it's perfect."

"I'm really lucky that you're the woman of the prophecy, Tilly," Kiho said seriously while touching her face with the back of his hand. "You'll always be the goddess of crabs to me– my one and only lady with a crab mallet."

"I love that title," she said. "Ah, now that you mention crab, I want to have some." She gave him puppy dog eyes. "Hon, can we have seafood for dinner later? I want King Crabs, lobsters, and prawns. The big ones."

"Sure," he said. "I'll go to the port later to buy fresh seafood."

"Thank you, hon," she said. "Can I invite Father to our dinner? Having our new family crest is worth a celebration."

"Of course," he said. "I'll call Father later."

"I'm touched, hon," she said. Then, she stood up between his legs and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You've been doing errands for me lately while I stay home. I'm sorry for making you do most of my workloads."

"It's nothing, honey," he said, then he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Anything for you and our baby."

She looked at him long and hard.

To be honest, there was another reason why she wanted to invite her father to their dinner. It has been three days already since she met Luna. She hadn't heard from the witch again but she couldn't get her words out of her head.

[Luna definitely gave me a hint that Kiho isn't a simple commoner.]

Now she felt stupid. She should have realized from the start that Kiho wouldn't even be a part of an important prophecy if he wasn't special. And maybe there was another reason as to why Emperor Aku took him in.

[House Prescott is one of the oldest families in the empire. I'll ask Father if he can do a background check on Kiho. Since my husband doesn't have a surname, then we should start by looking up for people with the same ice power as him. Usually, people with the same Mana are connected to one another.]

Another realization dawned upon her: Kiho was the only one with ice power in the empire.

[Oh, god. I'm so stupid!]

"What are you thinking about, Tilly?" Kiho asked softly while brushing his thumb across the knot on her forehead. "You can share it to me if you want."

"I'll tell you later," she promised him. "I still need to do some thinking. I feel very stupid right now."

"You're not stupid, Tilly," he said. "You're one of the smartest ladies I have met."

That made her smile instantly. "Thank you."

"Are you still working?"

"I'm done checking the logbooks," she said. "I think I'll have afternoon tea now. Would you like to join me, hon?"

"Let's use our free time in a more productive way," he said, his hand sliding down from her waist to her leg. The heated look in his eyes told her how hungry he was for her. "Can we…?"

Her eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and excitement. "Here? In my office?"

"We haven't done it in a table yet," Kiho said teasingly. "And I locked the door when I came in."

"So, this is your plan all along?" Tilly asked between giggles, her hands already busy undoing the buttons of his dress shirt. "You're so naughty now, Kiho."

And she loved it.

***

"CAPTAIN, you should have just asked me to buy seafood for you. You didn't have to come here yourself…," Blake said, then he paused for a while. "Oh, I apologize. I should have addressed you with your new title. Please excuse my insolence, Your Grace."

"It's fine, Blake," Kiho told the vice-captain. "I'm still the captain of our squad anyway."

"I understand," he said. "But I want to help you get used to your new title, Your Grace. You're a duke now."

Well, he had a point.

But he was distracted when he saw the giant King Crabs in the aquarium.

Right now, they were Atlenta– the port town where he and Tilly met for the first time. To be precise, they were in a restaurant that sold the biggest sea creatures such as King Crabs. Also, that place had a unique concept.

Customers could choose the seafood that they wanted to eat, then ask the chef to cook it for them as they waited inside the restaurant.

"Tilly would love that," Kiho said while pointing at the biggest King Crab in the aquarium. "My wife is small but she eats well."

"I know, Your Grace," Blake said. "We've all seen Lady Prescott eat with so much gusto the first time you met here."

He smiled faintly at the memory.

"Mister, please get me that King Crab."

Kiho turned to the lady who pointed at the same King Crab that he pointed. He was surprised when the woman's hood fell off her head. At first glance, he thought her hair was jet-black. But when he blinked, the lady's hair turned into chocolate brown.

[Am I seeing things because I'm tired?]

Maybe he was just tired because right now, the lady's hair remained brown in his eyes.

[Her hair is almost as dark as Tilly.]

"Miss, are you sure you can eat that by yourself?" the restaurant owner asked the lady. "Does a young lady like you even know how to eat crab properly?"

"Don't underestimate me, Mister," the girl with the chocolate brown hair said. Then, she pulled out something from the pocket of her cloak. "Look, I even have a crab mallet with me."

[A crab mallet…]

It seemed like the woman noticed that he was looking at her because she turned to his direction.

[Shit, why am I even looking at her?]

When Kiho met the lady's dark brown– almost reddish– eyes, his heart suddenly thumped painfully against his chest.

[Who is this woman?]

***

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