157 As Parents

"DON'T WORRY, Lord Winter," the Julian dude told him. "I know my place."

Winter blinked several times. And then, he calmed down. He wasn't that arrogant to think that he was the only adult in the world that was trapped inside a baby's body. "Who are you?"

"My identity isn't important," the other guy said. "All you need to know is I don't intend to take your place. But I'm begging you, Lord Winter. Please allow me and my big brother to be a part of your family until we're old and strong enough to protect ourselves."

"Your identity isn't important?" he scoffed. "Don't make me laugh, Julian. The fact that you're an old soul like me that's trapped in a baby's body is suspicious. Did you get reborn, too? Have we met in our past lives?"

"We haven't, Lord Winter."

He waited Julian to offer more explanation but he didn't.

"Julian, you're boring," Winter said. "But I'll keep an eye on you."

The annoying quiet child just smiled.

"How old were you when you died in your first life?" Winter asked him. "We need to establish hierarchy based on our mental age."

"I don't remember my exact age but my first grandson was just born when I died, Lord Winter."

He almost chocked on his saliva. "God, you're old."

Again, Julian just smiled.

By then, he already knew that his "uncle" wasn't the talkative type. And it seemed like he wouldn't talk about his past. It was up to him to "crack" his shell.

"I won't call you "big brother,"" Winter said firmly. "And I'll keep an eye on you, Julian."

Julian smiled at him. "As you wish, Lord Winter."

***

TILLY was relieved that Winter has finally calmed down around Julian. The two seemed to be getting along well now because they were smiling at each other. She didn't know what she'd do if Winter wouldn't accept Julian as a part of their family.

Thank goodness Winter listened to us.

After Winter and Julian's playtime, their son fell asleep. It looked like Julian was sleepy as well so she brought her to his new room– the one they prepared for Flint– and asked Luna to look after the child.

She wanted to talk to Kiho alone so she asked Sentinel to look after Winter. Then, she pulled her husband to her office. As soon as they plopped on the sofa, she hugged his waist tight and buried her face against his chest.

"Kiho…" Tilly said with a pout, then she looked up at her husband. "I feel like the most horrible mother in the world."

Kiho's face was instantly etched with worry. "Why do you feel that way, honey?"

"Shh, honey," he comforted her while pulling her closer to him. "You didn't make the decision alone so please don't blame yourself. We both decided to adopt the kids as my brothers because we believe that it was the best thing to do. And it still is, Tilly." He kissed the top of her head. "We can make this work."

She nodded, hugging him tighter.

Her husband really knew the right words to say to make her feel okay. Plus, she knew he wasn't just saying that. After all, Kiho had been honest with her since day one.

"Honey?"

She looked up at Kiho and got worried when she saw the guilt on his face. "What's wrong, hon?" she asked, then she touched his cheek. "Why do you look guilty?"

"I think it's my fault that Winter was acting like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Winter inherited my bad traits," he confessed in a voice filled with worry. "He inherited my over jealous, over protective, and over possessive side. He was born greedy because he has half of me."

She laughed softly at that. "Oh, Kiho."

"It's true," he said with a seriously worried look on his face. "Do you know that I see Winter as my rival with your affection? It also crossed my mind that we should have gotten a daughter instead of a son so I wouldn't get jealous."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "For real, Kiho?"

He nodded guiltily. "Petty, right? But what can I do? That's how much I love you, Tilly." He hugged tighter and showered her face with little kisses. "I don't know why but I always feel like I should love you as hard as I could. Like I was making up for lost moments or something."

She smiled because she was genuinely happy to hear that.

But at the same time, she felt sad because she couldn't tell him that there was a strong force that was forcing her to hold back her feelings for him. Of course, she knew in her heart that she loved Kiho. She just couldn't express it verbally for some reason. But she was doing her best everyday to make him feel how much she loved him.

Still, even though she didn't want to acknowledge it, she knew there was something wrong with her.

Why do I feel like I shouldn't love Kiho as much as he loves me?

And why couldn't she say "I love you" to her husband directly?

"I'm a terrible father for feeling that way towards my own son, am I not?"

"You're not," she said with a firm shake of her head. "Kiho, this isn't the first time that we've become parents. But this is the first time that we're really trying to become the best mommy and daddy for our Winter. Still, I know that we're bound to make mistakes. So let's figure out together how to become better parents, hmm?"

Kiho smiled, then he captured her lips for a searing kiss. "Tilly, when can we do it…?"

She shook her head, her face flushed from his question. Still, they were bound to talk about it. "Miss Luna advised us to not do it for at least four weeks."

"Okay, I can wait," he said, then he kissed her forehead. "Your recovery is more important, honey."

Her hand wandered to his crotch area. She smiled when he gasped as soon as she touched the bulge in his pants. "Should I help you with this, hon?"

Kiho's face instantly turned red as if he was embarrassed, but his golden eyes glowed indicating his desire at the moment. "You don't have to, honey."

Tilly smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. "I want to do it, Kiho."

***

"YOUR GRACE, did something good happen?" Miss Luna asked him with furrowed brows. "Your face is kind of glowing."

Kiho wasn't smiling but maybe his happiness was showing in his face.

Right now, he was walking with Miss Luna and they were on their way to Julian's room. Tilly was there with the maids while changing Winter and Julian's clothes. After all, they would be receiving important guests later.

But that wasn't the reason why he couldn't control the burst of happiness in his chest right now.

God, Tilly's mouth… her fingers… her tongue… they were all divine.

Stop, Kiho scolded himself and cleared his throat before he spoke. "I'm just excited to welcome the Black Serpent Knights in our estate, Miss Luna."

Well, it wasn't like he was lying.

Today was the day that the Black Serpent Knights would arrive at their estate as House Nystrom's official private army.

This was also the first time in a white that he would see his old squad. Ever since Blake had become the "temporary" captain, His Majesty had been sending the Black Serpent Knights outside the empire for official missions. It was probably the emperor's way of making sure that his men wouldn't be able to lend him their strength.

But thanks to his wife's cunning and beautiful mind, they were able to take the Black Serpent Knights under their wing in a legal and safe way.

God, I really love her.

"Your Grace?"

He turned to Miss Luna and he noticed that the witch looked worried about him. "Yes, Miss Luna?"

"You have beads of sweat on your forehead, Duke Nystrom," Miss Luna said in a confused voice. "This is the first time that I've seen you like that. Are you feeling hot?"

Kiho automatically touched his forehead and much to his shock, he was indeed sweating. And that rarely happened. After all, his body was colder than average humans. And now that Miss Luna mentioned it… "Yes, it's hot," he said worriedly. He wasn't supposed to feel that way because of his Mana. "Why does the air feel hot all of a sudden?"

***

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