A TALE OF FIRE AND ICE

A Thorn-Filled Road Ahead

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***

Irene woke up in a hospital.

As soon as she remembered everything that happened, she immediately placed her hands on her tummy. She let her wrath take over and endanger Winter in the process. If something bad happened to her baby boy, she would never forgive herself.

"The baby is fine."

Irene turned to the owner of the voice and was disappointed to see Captain Denver instead of Lisa. But the news he said was a huge relief to her. "Are you sure, Captain Denver?" She gently placed her hands on her tummy. "Is my baby really safe?"

"Yes. The doctor who checked on you a while ago confirmed it," Captain Denver said. "You can ask her later if you have other questions."

She nodded. "Where's Lisa, Captain Denver? Is he still at the castle?"

"What do you think?" the captain asked. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "The replica of the Red Phoenix wrecked havoc at the castle. Of course, it's the captains' job to stop it."

She gasped when she realized that. This was embarrassing to admit but she had been too consumed by anger a while ago that she almost forgot everything. "Please tell me the phoenix didn't hurt my husband."

"Your husband successfully sealed the replica," he said. "The captains received an order from His Majesty. Captain Sherwood left the castle with the emperor. Captain Ainsworth and I were supposed to take over while the emperor specifically asked us to make sure that Captain Lisa would take a rest."

That made her worry. "I-Is he injured?"

Captain Denver shook his head. "Captain Lisa isn't injured. But apparently, his Mana depleted when he sealed the replica with his ice."

Okay, that made her feel guilty. "This is my fault. I let my anger take over. No matter how much I wanted to kill the bitch, I should have been more careful."

"It can't be helped since you weren't taught how to control the phoenix," the captain said. "But you're amazing to actually control a mere replica even if it has a piece of your heart."

She gave him a dubious look. "Captain Denver, we have a lot of things we should talk about. You're a Fire Mage, right? And you know a lot about me."

"We can talk later," he said firmly. "Lady Prescott, this is not the good time to talk about that yet. After the replica went berserk, an investigation will soon follow to trace whoever or whatever caused it to attack the princess."

She swallowed in fear. "A-Are they going to find out that it was me?"

"No," he assured her confidently. "I've manipulated the coachman's memory so he wouldn't remember that you were ambushed earlier."

"You knew I was ambushed?"

"I had a feeling when I saw Captain Sherwood and I noticed that he didn't have his shadow," he explained. "One of the methods to seize the phoenix is to make your heart stop for a moment. I knew he'd target you so I rushed to find you. But I was still late."

"Wait," she said with a knotted forehead. "Are you saying that you knew the people who are after my heart?"

"We know that Her Royal Highness wants your heart," he confirmed. "We're also aware that Captain Sherwood and Lahara are working for her. We're suspicious of the High Priest as well but we don't have evidence against him yet."