75 Lady with a Crab Malle (1/2)
”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?”