Mommy Villainess

Chapter 118: New Skill Unlocked

FOR SOME reason, Tilly felt very powerful today.

Well, she had always known that she was a proud woman. She was born in nobility and had a privileged life. Most of all, she was aware that her confidence often times came across as arrogance. This may sound like an excuse but she couldn't really help it.

But this time, something else felt different.

Something inside her seemed to be making her more confident than usual.

"Captain Denver, isn't mind manipulation one of your best abilities?" Tilly asked curiously while they were walking down the stairs that would lead to the basement cell. Count Huxley was being held there until the royal knights come to arrest him. Since Lord Huxley was a higher noble, Captain Denver couldn't touch the count so easily. That was why a noble trial was required if he wanted the count to pay for his crimes. "Did you try manipulating Lord Huxley's memory to make him forget about your real identity?"

"I already tried it but unfortunately, it doesn't work on Lord Huxley," Captain Denver, who was walking in front of them, said. "Apparently, he has a strong resistance to mind manipulation. I guess he has the ability to control his thoughts."

"How did Lord Huxley find out that you're a Fire Mage in the first place?" Kiho, who was walking beside her, asked bluntly. "House Denver has managed to protect your family and the tower all these years. What went wrong?"

The captain stopped walking and so they were forced to do the same.

"It was my fault," Captain Denver said in a voice filled with guilt. Then, he turned around to face them. Yep, the captain really looked guilty for some reason. "Lady Nystrom, there's something that I need to confess to you."

"Confess?" Kiho asked, his yellow-ish eyes glowing menacingly. "Confess what?"

She rolled her eyes and gently nudged her husband. "Let the captain talk first, Kiho."

"Okay, honey."

Captain Denver looked confused but in the end, he decided to ignore Kiho's "threat" and proceeded to explain. "Me and Flint secretly followed when you went to the temple, my lady."

She blinked in surprise. To be honest, she was supposed to ask why the captain had to bring a child along. But she remembered her conversation with Kiho about that so she just let it slide. "You did? But why?"

"Because before you left for the temple, a lot of strange but strong people arrived at the Royal Capital," the captain explained. "We recognized some of them as Her Royal Highness's cohorts. We thought they came to avenge the princess. I considered the possibility that they knew that you have the heart and the fact that you were the one who burned Her Royal Highness to crisp. And so, I decided to secretly follow and protect you."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kiho asked with furrowed brows. "If you knew that Tilly's life is in danger because of Her Royal Highness's cohorts, then you should have told me since I'm the person closest to my wife."

"I just didn't want the Supreme to worry about that when she had a huge task on her plate," the captain reasoned. "And to be honest, we Fire Mages wanted to do this on our own."

So in the end, it was still all about duty and pride, huh?

Kiho frowned, obviously not pleased with that. "Captain Denver, you lead a squad. You should know that the safety of people you want to protect should come first before your personal interest."

"I know that now, Your Grace," Captain Denver said, then he bowed. "My deepest apologies for my selfishness."

"It's okay, Captain Denver," she said. "Now, I want to know how Lord Huxley found out about your secret."

The captain raised his head before he answered the question. "One of the assailants who went after you was Lady Alisa Hayward."

She gasped a little loudly. "I know her. Lady Hayward is a doctor," she said. "And one of Her Royal Highness's closest friends."

"That's right," the captain confirmed. "We clashed and when I found out that Lady Hayward intended to kill you, I fought and killed her. On the other hand, Flint took care of Lady Hayward's companion and finished him off."

She gulped.

Was that how Flint became a warrior?

"Good job, Captain Denver," Kiho said. "But did you reveal your identity to Lady Hayward while you were fighting her?"

"That was the biggest mistake I did," Captain Denver admitted, shame written all over his face. "I had a mask on when I was fighting her. But while she was being burned alive by my flame, I revealed my identity to her as a Fire Mage. I didn't know how but she managed to share that information to Lord Huxley."

Her brows furrowed. "How was Lady Hayward related to Lord Huxley, Captain Denver?"

"Apparently, they were engaged to be married."

Ouch.

Now she understood why Lord Huxley was angry enough to attempt to kill a Fire Mage in Captain Denver's tower. But that didn't mean that she was sympathizing with the count. Venting on a child warrior was still unforgivable.

"Did Lady Hayward see Flint during that time?" Kiho asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

That warmed her heart.

Ah, my husband really cares about Flint despite their constant bantering.

"I'm certain that Lady Hayward didn't see Flint then," Captain Denver said. "But I'm guessing that Lord Huxley targeted Flint to get back at me. I killed his fiance so he wanted to kill my disciple in return." His jaw clenched, obviously holding back his anger. "This is my fault. I should have been more careful."

She understood that Captain Denver made a huge mistake. Still, she didn't want to see him beating himself over it.

"Be more careful next time, Captain Denver," Tilly said, then she tapped his shoulder. "Thank you for protecting me. I'll deal with this to protect you and every Fire Mage in this tower. I won't let our identities be exposed this early so cheer up, okay?"

Captain Denver looked shocked by her declaration. Then, his face softened up. "Thank you, Lady Nystrom," he said, obviously touched. Then, he put his hand on his chest before he politely bowed to her. "Despite everything, I will never regret protecting you."

***

KIHO clenched his fists hard while staring hard at Captain Denver who had his head hanged low before his Tilly.

He saw how the captain's face softened up while looking at his wife a while ago. Well, he understood how a Fire Mage like him would feel towards the Supreme. He knew that Captain Denver was devoted to Tilly because of his blood.

Still, he wouldn't let his guard down.

A rival, Kiho told himself. Every single man who looks at my Tilly is a rival.

***

MIKHAIL DENVER knew that Duke Nystrom was glaring at the back of his head but he tried to ignore it.

His Grace is probably getting jealous again.

He knew what kind of face he was making towards Lady Nystrom but he couldn't control it. She was literally a living legend, a goddess among their kind. Even if he didn't want the duke to misunderstand his devotion towards Lady Nystrom, he knew in himself that he also couldn't deny the fact that he really admired the duchess as a person.

But it's far from romantic feelings, that I know.

"Lady Nystrom, it was you, wasn't it?" Mikhail Denver asked. "A flaming red feather came to me a while ago. The voice I heard told me to find and save Flint. It seems like every Fire Mage in the tower has received the same message."

"Yes, that was me," Lady Nystrom confirmed cheerfully. "I'll tell you the whole story later, Captain Denver. For now, I'll punish Lord Huxley first."

As expected, he chose the right person to serve.

"I understand, Lady Nystrom," Mikhail Denver said. And then, he kept his mouth shut because he felt like Duke Nystrom had already made a hole at the back of his head. Please calm down, Duke Nystrom.

***

TILLY controlled his anger when she saw Count Huxley's arrogant face behind the bars.

She remembered that this count wanted to adopt Lucina Morganna as his sister. That only made her hate him more.

"Greetings, Duchess Nystrom," Count Huxley, who was sitting on a wooden stool with his legs crossed elegantly, said in a sarcastic tone. "To what do I owe this visit?"

Only the count and their group were there so she was free to speak her mind.

"I'm the big sister of the child that you almost killed, Lord Huxley," Tilly said with a smile. She really felt confident today. Plus, the fact that Kiho and Captain Denver were just behind her made her feel stronger. "I'm here to make sure that you'd rot in jail after what you did to Flint."

"I heard that House Nystrom is the biggest sponsor of the Fire Wielder Guild now," the count said. "But I didn't know that you're that attached to the children of this tower, Lady Nystrom." He snapped his fingers. "Ah, right. You probably feel responsible because they are the same as you."

Oh, the count knew that she was a Fire Mage, huh?

Well, he was working for the b*tchy princess so she should have expected that.

She felt Kiho and Captain Denver become agitated behind her. They were probably uncomfortable with the fact that Count Huxley knew her real identity.

"Should I reveal your identity as well while I'm at it?" Count Huxley asked with a smirk.

As expected, Kiho and Captain Denver both tried to charge at the count.

But she literally held back the big boys by holding each one by the arm. They got the message and each one of them stood beside her this time. And she could also tell that they were more guarded now.

She had a feeling that Kiho and Captain Denver would be willing to forget the law and just kill Count Huxley if the count tried to threaten her again. Luckily, she knew that she had the upperhand. As if she'd let Princess Nia's crony bully her.

"Go ahead, Lord Huxley," Tilly said with confidence. That earned her a questioning look from Kiho and Captain Denver. But her focused remained on Count Huxley who finally stopped smirking. "Go ahead and expose our real identity to the empire. If you do that, then I'll also expose Her Royal Highness's secret."

Count Huxley's brows furrowed in confusion. "What secret are you talking about?"

"Oh, it's not a big deal," she said casually with a smirk. "I just know for a fact that Her Royal Highness purposely took medicine that made her infertile now."

The count's shocked look on his face was a sight to behold.

Kiho and Captain Denver also looked shocked by her revelation.

"Do you have evidence to back up your accusation?" the count hissed, standing so hastily that the chair he was sitting on fell on the ground. Then, he charged at her angrily. "How dare you accuse Her Royal Highness of a crime like that?!"

Kiho and Captain Denver both stood protectively in front of her when the count grabbed the prison bars and pressed his face between the gaps. It looked like the count wanted to grab her, and thus her two "bodyguards" acted that way.

"It's easy to prove that Her Royal Highness is infertile," she said with a laugh. "A visit to the greatest doctor in the empire or the saint will do the job."

The count didn't have a retort for that.

"We are ready to fight if you expose our secret," she said confidently even though she knew that they weren't that prepared yet. Bluffing was needed at times like this, okay? "But how about Her Royal Highness? What do you think will happen if the people of the empire find out that the princess purposely destroyed her reproductive organs? I bet even His Majesty won't be able to save his beloved from the wrath of his subjects." She took a step closer to the count and look at him straight in the eye. "If Her Royal Highness is lucky, she might just get exiled and lose her title as a princess. But of course, you cannot deny the fact that Her Royal Highness committed treason by making herself infertile. And a future empress who wouldn't be able to bear an heir for the emperor is useless. Don't you think Princess Nia deserves to be executed for that?"

Count Huxley growled angrily and tried to grab her by the shoulders.

But even before Kiho and Captain Denver could move to protect her, her own body and suddenly had a mind of its own to protect her.

Her body released enough heat to burn the count's arms even without flame.

Count Huxley definitely felt like his arms were being burned because he hissed in pain while hugging himself tight.

"I did not give you permission to touch me, Lord Huxley," Tilly said menacingly, her Mana releasing a huge pressure enough to force Count Huxley to kneel and bow before her. It felt good to see the proud count in that position. "If you want to protect your princess, then you better keep your mouth shut."

Tilly didn't notice but Kiho and Captain Denver, two of the most powerful Mana users in the empire, almost had their knees buckle when she released a pressure that she would later know as "bloodlust."

***

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